China calls 'provocative' Japan visit to disputed islands trespassing
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Public broadcaster NHK says Japanese MPs used drones to examine one of the disputed islands, which China sees as trespassing.
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Japanese Coast Guard vessel and boats sail alongside a Japanese activists' fishing boat near a group of disputed islands called Diaoyu by China and Senkaku by Japan, early Sunday, Aug. 18, 2013. (AP)
China has raised alarms and concerns through its embassy in Japan after Japanese lawmakers visited the disputed islands in the East China Sea, calling it "provocative".
Led by former Japanese defense minister Tomomi Inada, the five-member delegation joined local government officials during a maritime inspection on Saturday around the Japanese-called Senkaku islands, known by China as the Diaoyu.
According to a statement posted on the Chinese embassy's website in Tokyo on Sunday, an embassy spokesperson said: "Diaoyu Dao and affiliated islands are China's inherent territory," adding: "In response to Japan's infringing and provocative actions, China has lodged solemn representations to the Japanese side."
In response, Inada told Japanese media aboard the ship: "I find it difficult to forgive that China's coast guard is entering these territorial waters as if it owns them".
Read more: Chinese coast guards force Japanese ships away from disputed islands
Public broadcaster NHK said that the hours-long trip witnessed the use of drones by the MPs to examine one of the islands.
The Diaoyu Islands are the subject of expanded territorial claims from China and Japan. China cites Japanese maps from 1783 and 1785 that show the islands as being in Chinese territory, whereas Japan argues that its rule over the islands has been in place since 1895. The Diaoyu Islands came under US administration following World War II before being transferred to Japan in 1972.
Japan thinks that China's claims to sovereignty over the islands stem from the 1970s discovery of lucrative minerals in their shelf waters despite there being historic evidence that backs China's claims. When the Japanese government acquired three of the five islands from a private owner in 2012, the territorial issue intensified.
This dispute has led to repeated confrontations with both nations deploying patrol boats and issuing calls for the other to vacate the area.
