Once a month, China Coast Guard (CCG) patrol vessels make regular incursions into the territorial waters of the disputed islands located in the East China Sea between Japan and China, a Japanese government source with knowledge of the matter told The Diplomat on February 26.
In recent years, four CCG vessels have been ceremonially entering the territorial waters of the islands, which are known as the Senkaku Islands in Japan and the Diaoyu Islands in China, once every month, which is becoming the new normal, the official said.
Chinese government vessels have been making incursions into the territorial waters around the islands since September 2012, when the Japanese government nationalized the islands by purchasing three of them from a private owner.
The islands, which are administered by Japan but claimed by China, consist of five uninhabited islands and three rock reefs.
The CCG website publishes records of regular intrusions into the 12 nautical mile territorial waters of the disputed islands every month as a way to demonstrate that they are enforcing the law – and China’s claim to the islands.
Most recently, four CCG vessels entered territorial waters around the islands around 10 a.m. on February 12 and left by noon on the same day, according to the Japan Coast Guard (JCG).
On the same day, the CCG website announced that “the Chinese Coast Guard 2305 fleet cruised in the territorial waters of the Diaoyu Islands. This was a rights protection cruise carried out by the Chinese Coast Guard in accordance with the law.”
Just like the February 12 incident, based on the announcements by the JCG, most of the intrusions see the CCG encroach just past the corners of the territorial waters of the islands and leave again within two hours every month. The Japanese government official described these transit passages as “ceremonial actions by the CCG to create an alibi for its own law enforcement.”
Separately from this, the CCG has also begun to announce cases where it entered into territorial waters around the islands to drive away Japanese fishing boats. The CCG previously did not make announcements about such incidents.
Most recently, the CCG announced on its website that “Chinese coast guards expelled Japanese vessels that illegally entered China’s territorial waters off the Diaoyu Islands in accordance with the law.”
Based on figures released by the JCG, in 2013 Chinese vessels intruded into the 12 nautical mile territorial waters of the disputed islands on an average of 4.5 days each month. In 2024 that figure had fallen to 3.5 days, a decrease of about 22 percent.
Meanwhile, the number of days Chinese government vessels were spotted in the contiguous zone of the disputed islands hit a record high in 2024 for the third consecutive year. The contiguous zone is 12 to 24 nautical miles (22 to 44 kilometers) from the coast.
Data released by the JCG shows that Chinese government vessels entered the contiguous zone on 355 out of 366 days during last year. That’s the highest figure since 2008, when official Chinese vessels were first confirmed navigating there, and an increase of three days compared with the previous record of 352 days set in 2023.
“The China Coast Guard’s patrol vessels have been acting recklessly against the Philippines in the South China Sea, but they have not gone that far against Japan,” the Japanese government official said.
“However, the number of China Coast Guard patrol vessels coming into the contiguous waters of the Senkaku Islands has been increasing, and we are still in serious situation,” the official stressed.
A diplomat from a South Asian country who is also a China watcher pointed out that in China, the army, air force, and navy all have to advertise their activities to secure government budgets, and that the CCG may also be trying to secure a budget by highlighting its activities off the disputed islands.
In any case, China and Japan need to prevent the situation from worsening in the East China Sea through dialogue and consultation. Including China’s People’s Liberation Army and Japan’s Self-Defense Forces, as well as their coast guards, the two nations need to act with restraint toward each other and stabilize the situation.
