Chinese fleet sails near Japanese Senkaku islands

Japan says China sent coastguard vessels to escort the fishing boats

Japan says China has sailed a fleet of 230 vessels near Japanese-controlled waters in the East China Sea.

The fleet included fishing boats and coastguard ships, Japan says, and three vessels appeared to be armed. Officials have protested to Chinese diplomats.

The reported incident occurred near the Senkaku Islands. They are administered by Japan but also claimed by China, which calls them the Diaoyu Islands.


Beijing has been increasingly assertive about waters it believes are Chinese. In a separate incident on Saturday, Chinese state media said fighter jets and bombers had completed a patrol of airspace above islands in the South China Sea, as part of combat training.

These islands are also disputed, but last month an international tribunal ruled dismissed most of Beijing's claims in that sea.