Tokyo [Japan], July 11: Japanese media reported that a Japanese warship entered Chinese territorial waters near Taiwan without prior notice, leading to a concerned reaction from Beijing.
Kyodo News Agency on July 10 quoted several diplomatic sources as revealing that the destroyer JS Suzutsuki of the Japan Maritime Self-Defense Force (MSDF) moved into waters off China 's Zhejiang province on July 4. This is where China announced it was holding naval exercises during that time.
With the mission of monitoring Chinese missile drills in waters north of Taiwan in the East China Sea, the destroyer JS Suzutsuki entered Chinese territorial waters without prior notice to Beijing authorities, NTV reported citing sources from the Japanese Ministry of Defense .
Specifically, the Japanese warship entered the 12 nautical mile (22 km) zone from the coast of Zhejiang for about 20 minutes despite warnings from Chinese ships.
Beijing has expressed serious concern about the incident, according to Kyodo News.
Japan's Ministry of Defense has opened an investigation into the captain of the JS Suzutsuki. The intentions of the crew at the time remain unclear.
Previously, Chinese coast guard and navy ships have entered Japanese territorial waters, including an incident near Yakushima Island.
In another development, Taiwan's defense agency announced on July 11 that within 24 hours it had detected 66 Chinese military aircraft operating around the island, according to Reuters.
Source: Thanh Nien Newspaper
