For a 30^th straight day, Chinese surveillance ships have entered the contiguous zone lying just outside Japan’s territorial waters in the vicinity of the Senkaku Islands in the East China Sea.

The Japan Coast Guard says four Chinese vessels have been sailing back and forth around the Japanese-controlled uninhabited islands of the Senkaku chain.  They left the waters in southwestern Okinawa Prefecture Sunday morning, but another four surveillance ships immediately sailed in and took their place.

The Chinese are being firm, if not belligerent, about their rights to be in the waters surrounding the Senkaku Islands.  When told by a Japan Coast Guard cutter to stay clear of Japanese territorial waters, the Chinese responded that the Senkakus are an inherent part of Chinese territory, and they’ll be there if they feel like it.

The 11^th Regional Coast Guard Headquarters in Naha is responsible for patrolling the waters. China, which calls the five islands Diaoyu, and Taiwan, which calls the island Tiaoyutai, are at odds virtually daily with Japan Coast Guard vessels, which have on several occasions resorted to spraying each other with water cannons.

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