tensions with Japan –

China’s Coast Guard today conducted patrols off the Japanese-administered Senkaku Islands in the East China Sea. This was learned from a note from the Coast Guard, which states that the patrol aimed to “protect the rights” of the Chinese nation and was conducted in compliance with the law. Controlled by the Japanese municipality of Ishigaki and claimed by China under the name Diaoyu, the Senkaku Islands are at the center of a long-standing dispute between the two countries. In 2022 alone, the Tokyo Ministry of Defense blamed 15 sorties near the islands on the Chinese Navy, which for its part claims to conduct patrols in full compliance with the law.

Also claimed by Taiwan, the Senkaku include eight islands and rock formations uninhabited since 1940. The dispute over their sovereignty has become more heated since 1968, when a United Nations report feared the existence of vast deposits of underwater fossil resources in the area. Meanwhile, China’s Foreign Ministry has summoned the diplomatic representatives of Japan and the Philippines for the “negative remarks” made by their respective leaders during the trilateral summit held yesterday at the White House with the President of the United States, Joe Biden. This is learned from a note from the Chinese ministry, which specifies that the director general of the Asian Affairs department, Liu Jinsong, held separate talks with the minister counselor of the Japanese embassy, ​​Yokochi Akira, and with the Philippine ambassador , Jaime FlorCruz.

In a press conference held today in Beijing, Chinese Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Mao Ning reiterated that her country opposes any action or “small circle” that incites confrontation in the South China Sea. During a summit held yesterday, the leaders of the United States, Japan and the Philippines agreed to advance their cooperation in the fields of defense, maritime security and development in the name of the common vision of a “free and open Indo-Pacific ” and “durable, inclusive and resilient economic growth”.