A Chinese naval ship sailed into waters surrounding disputed East China Sea islands for the first time early on Thursday, prompting Tokyo to summon the Chinese ambassador to protest, the Japanese Government said.
Russian naval ships were also seen in the area around the same time, according to local media. “Around 00:50 am (local time), a Chinese naval vessel entered our nation’s contiguous waters surrounding the Senkaku Islands,” the Japanese foreign ministry said in a statement. Japan administers the uninhabited isles under that name while China also claims them and calls them the Diaoyu islands.