China surveillance ships enter waters claimed by Japan

TOKYO/BEIJING?? Six Chinese surveillance ships briefly entered waters near disputed islands claimed by Tokyo and Beijing on Friday, raising the stakes in a long-running territorial row between Asia's two biggest economies.

China's foreign ministry said that the ships entered the disputed waters to carry out maritime surveillance and that for the first time China was carrying out a mission of "law enforcement over its maritime rights".

"It reflects our government's jurisdiction over the Diaoyu islands," it said in a statement. The ministry has used similar language in the past.

The islands, known as Senkaku in Japanese and Diaoyu in Chinese, are near potentially huge maritime gas and oil fields.

The uninhabited islets were at the center of a chill in 2010 after Japan arrested a Chinese trawler captain whose boat collided with Japanese Coast Guard vessels near the area.

Much at stake for US as tensions rise in troubled China Seas

The Japanese coast guard said it ordered the Chinese ships to leave the area. By afternoon, all had left the area without any use of force, a coast guard official said.

No force had been used to remove the Chinese ships, a coast guard official said.

"We'll do our utmost in vigilance and surveillance," said Prime Minister Yoshihiko Noda when asked about Japan's responses.

Trade at risk
China warned Japan on Thursday that trade could be hurt by the flare-up in tension. China, the world's second-largest economy is Japan's biggest trading partner with mutual trade in 2011 growing 14.3 percent in value to a record $345 billion.

A Nissan Motor Co Ltd executive has said the tensions were already affecting business with China.

1. Only on NBCNews.com

   1. Bush administration received many pre-9/11 warnings
   2. Suspect arrested in rape of NYC birdwatcher, 73
   3. Despite dark past, Israelis seek new lives in Berlin
   4. After climbing ladder, family falling backward
   5. Study: Immigrant students do better than US-born kids
   6. Modern medicine: Lab-grown genitals, spray-on skin
   7. Chicago parents ask: How long will strike go on?

"We lodged a strong protest and also we made a strong case that the Chinese side should leave from the territorial waters around the Senkaku islands," Japanese Foreign Minister Koichiro Gemba told a news conference in Sydney after talks with Australia's foreign and defence ministers.

"I'd like to underscore that we should never let the situation escalate and we have strong hopes for the Chinese to respond in an appropriate and calm manner," he added.

Chinese ambassador Chen Yonghua, summoned to Japan's foreign ministry to hear a protest, repeated Beijing's stance on the islands but added it also hoped the situation would not escalate or hurt ties, a Japanese foreign ministry statement said.

Tensions have risen since nationalist Tokyo Governor Shintaro Ishihara floated a plan for metropolitan authorities to buy the islets and build facilities on them. That prompted Prime Minister Yoshihiko Noda's government to buy them instead.

Japan deported Chinese activists who landed on the isles last month, triggering a tit-for-tat landing by Japanese nationalists and anti-Japanese protests in Chinese cities.

On Tuesday, Japan, which controls the islands, finalised their purchase from a private owner, ignoring warnings from China that the move would breach its sovereignty.

Japan's consulate in Shanghai said on its website at least four Japanese citizens had been injured in attacks stemming from the tensions and warned Japanese in the city to be careful.

Small protests continued on Friday in front of the Japanese embassy in Beijing, with groups of about 40 people shouting anti-Japanese slogans and waving Chinese flags.

Cheng Li, an expert on Chinese politics at the Brookings Institution think tank in Washington, expressed concern about the rise in tensions.

"We cannot eliminate the possibility of military conflict," Li said. "Chinese leaders actually talk tough and act carefully, but sometimes it's out of your control. Chinese public opinion has become so powerful."

Washington has expressed concern, this week urging both sides to tone down their increasingly impassioned exchanges.

Copyright 2012 Thomson Reuters. Click for restrictions.

Source: http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/49027621/ns/world_news-asia_pacific/

nfl scores Devon Walker Tom Cruise ryan reynolds Star Trek: The Original Series Carlton Morgan Freeman Dead