TOKYO — Japan protested to Beijing after spotting Chinese and Russian warships just outside its territorial waters around the disputed East China Sea islands on Monday.
Japan’s Defense Ministry said a Chinese frigate sailed inside the “contiguous zone,” just outside Japanese territorial waters around Senkaku Islands, which Beijing also claims and calls the Diaoyu, for several minutes Monday morning.
The Chinese warship’s presence was confirmed about 40 minutes after a Russian frigate had entered the waters for more than an hour, the ministry said.
It was not immediately clear what was behind the latest Chinese-Russian military activity in the area.