Naha, Okinawa Pref. –
A Chinese marine research ship was spotted placing a pipe-like object into the sea in Japan’s exclusive economic zone off the Senkaku Islands in Okinawa Prefecture Sunday, the Japan Coast Guard said.
The Chinese ship was spotted in the waters about 230 kilometers north-northeast of Taishojima, part of the Senkaku chain in the East China Sea, at around 6:30 a.m., according to the JCG’s 11th regional headquarters in Naha, the capital of Okinawa.
The research ship sailed out of the Japan-China median line at about 1:20 p.m. after it was asked by a JCG patrol ship by radio to stop operating.
