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Four Chinese coast guard ships sailed in Japanese territorial waters off the Senkaku Islands on Thursday afternoon, according to Nippon.com's Jiji Press report and The Japan Times. The Japan Coast Guard's 11th Regional Headquarters said the vessels entered near Uotsuri Island and left by around 6 p.m., making this the first such Chinese official-ship intrusion since April 28.
Key developments
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Where it happened: The reported entry took place off the Senkaku Islands, which are administered by Japan as part of Ishigaki, Okinawa Prefecture. China also claims the island chain and calls it Diaoyu, a naming and sovereignty dispute that makes even short maritime entries politically sensitive.
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Timeline: The four vessels crossed into waters near Uotsuri Island between 4:15 p.m. and 4:35 p.m., according to the Naha-based coast guard headquarters cited by Nippon.com. They left the area around 6 p.m., putting the reported episode at roughly 90 minutes.
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Actors involved: The ships were identified as Chinese coast guard vessels. The Japanese side cited in the reports was the Japan Coast Guard's 11th Regional Headquarters in Naha, the regional unit responsible for Okinawa-area waters.
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Immediate context: The latest entry followed a previous intrusion by Chinese official ships on April 28. The reports do not say that the vessels made contact with Japanese ships or that a separate diplomatic protest had been announced.
What to watch
The next detail to watch is whether Japan releases additional coast guard data, including vessel numbers, routes, or warnings issued during the entry. Those updates would help clarify whether Thursday's passage was treated as a routine territorial-water intrusion or part of a longer pattern around Uotsuri Island.
A second unresolved point is whether Beijing or Tokyo adds a diplomatic statement beyond the operational account. For now, the confirmed record is narrow: four Chinese coast guard ships entered and exited Japanese territorial waters, with the Senkaku sovereignty dispute remaining the central context.
Sources
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