Japan has officially called on Beijing to remove a buoy discovered floating in the sea near the disputed Senkaku Islands, known as the Diaoyu Islands in China.
Tokyo claims that the buoy was located within its exclusive economic zone (EEZ).
The Senkaku Islands, an uninhabited chain of islands and rocks, have been under Japanese control since 1895 but are also claimed by self-governing Taiwan.
Under the United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea, an EEZ can extend up to 200 nautical miles from a country’s coastline.
Japan’s coast guard had reportedly found the buoy in the East China Sea in July, and since then, Japan has lodged protests in both Tokyo and Beijing over the matter.
The Japanese government has demanded the immediate removal of the buoy, arguing that constructing a structure in Japan’s EEZ without its consent violates international laws.
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This incident is not the first of its kind. According to a foreign ministry official, China placed a buoy in the same area of Japan’s EEZ in 2018, prompting similar protests from Japan.
Japan’s Ministry of Defense has also accused China of “relentless” intrusions in the vicinity of the Senkaku Islands.
Between April and August 2020, Japanese authorities detected Chinese coast guard vessels near the islands for 111 consecutive days, totaling 333 days over the entire year.
In addition to the ongoing territorial disputes, Japan and China have faced increasing tensions over the release of treated radioactive water from the damaged Fukushima nuclear plant into the Pacific Ocean.
Beijing has vehemently opposed this move and imposed a blanket ban on all seafood imports from Japan in response.
The matter has exacerbated historical animosities between the two nations, leading to heightened security measures in Japan and diplomatic efforts to maintain calm and responsibility.
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