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Reuters) - Two Chinese patrol ships entered Japanese territorial waters near disputed islets claimed by both Beijing and Tokyo on Friday, Japan's Coast Guard said, marking the latest incident in a long-running dispute between China and Japan.
The Chinese ships have not followed the coast guard's order to go out of the territorial waters, a Japan coast guard official said.
Bilateral ties were strained further on Tuesday when Japan, which controls the islands, said it had bought them from a private owner, ignoring warnings from China
TOKYO (Reuters) - Six Chinese patrol ships entered Japanese waters near disputed islands claimed by both Beijing and Tokyo on Friday, said Japan's Coast Guard, further heightening tensions in a long-running territorial dispute between Asia's two biggest economies.
The coast guard ordered the ships to leave Japan's territorial waters, but only two complied, leaving four Chinese vessels still in Japanese waters, the coast guard said.
No force had been used to remove the Chinese ships, a coast guard official said.
"We'll do our utmost in vigilance and surveillance," said Prime Minister Yoshihiko Noda when asked about Japan's responses.
The islands, known as Senkaku in Japanese and Diaoyu in Chinese, are near potentially huge maritime gas and oil fields.
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So far, Japanese border patrol ships have not taken any active measures against the Chinese vessels.
Japan has created a crisis headquarters in response to the incident. The Chinese Ambassador to Japan has been urgently summoned to a meeting with the Japanese Foreign Ministry