TOKYO, March 1, 2023—For the 35th consecutive day, Chinese patrol ships have been idling in and around Japan’s Senkaku Islands March 1, 2023, with one of them spotted today for the first time appearing to be carrying machine guns, a Japanese Maritime Safety Agency official said.
Chinese patrol ships have been spotted in increasing frequency over the past year after the U.S.-China relationship began registering signs of strain.
The official told The Prospect on the telephone March 1 afternoon that four Chinese patrol ships have been idling in and out of the Japanese contiguous waters around Senkaku, some of them bearing machine guns, but he insisted that there has been ‘no extraordinary movement’ of the ships in recent weeks.
On Feb. 26, the cabinet of prime minister Fumio Kishida said, ‘Japan cannot tolerate’ the infringement of Chinese patrol ships of the Japanese sovereign waters around Senkaku. Since then, however, Tokyo has not taken follow-up action.
###
Insight Into the Future