Japan on Tuesday warned that it would respond strongly if any Chinese vessels attempted to land on a group of disputed East China Sea islands at the center of a decade-long territorial row between the two nations.
"We would take decisive action against any attempt to enter territorial waters and to land" on the islands. "It would be natural for us to expel by force if (the Chinese) were to make a landing," Prime Minister Shinzo Abe told the Japanese Parliament on Tuesday.
His warnings came aftr Japanese Coast Guard spotted eight Chinese government ships sailing near the disputed islands while conducting routine surveillance. Japanese government has since lodged a formal protest with China's Ambassador to Tokyo over the issue.
The disputed islands, known as Senkaku in Japan, Diaoyu in China and Tiaoyutai in Taiwan, are claimed by the three countries as the region surrounding them is oil-rich and close to key international shipping routes. The islands are currently controlled by Japan.
The territorial row between Japan and China over the disputed islands has been an ongoing issue for years. However, tensions escalated in September 2012 after Japanese government purchased three of the disputed islands from a Japanese businessman who claimed to own them.
Japan said the move was intended "to maintain and manage the islands in a peaceful and stable manner for ensuring safe navigation" in and around the waters surrounding the islands. But Beijing slammed the move, insisting that Diaoyu and its affiliated islands were China's inherent territory.
Skirmishes between Japanese and Chinese vessels in the waters surrounding the disputed islands have been almost a daily occurrence since their takeover by Japan. Tensions escalated after a Chinese government aircraft flew over the islands in December, prompting japan to strengthen its defense of the disputed territory by deploying Coast Guard vessels on a permanent basis and boost its defense budget for the first time in a decade.
In February, the Japanese government lodged a formal protest with Beijing after a Chinese frigate locked its weapons-targeting radar on a Japanese naval vessel. A month earlier, another Chinese frigate targeted a Japanese military helicopter with a similar type of radar, which uses radio waves to guide missiles or other weapons after detecting the intended target.
The dispute over the islands has already cast a shadow over China-Japan trade, with sales of Japanese products, especially automobiles and electronics, dropping sharply in China in recent months. China ranks as Japan's largest trading partner, with the latter being China's fourth largest.
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