The patrols were carried out amid heightened tensions between China and Japan over the Japanese prime minister’s comments regarding Taiwan.
Published November 16, 2025
Amid heightened tensions between the two countries over Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi’s comments regarding Taiwan, a Chinese Coast Guard vessel sailed through the Senkaku Islands, which are under Japanese administration.
China’s Coast Guard said in a statement on Sunday that it had “conducted patrols” around the Senkaku Islands, which the Chinese government claims as its own territory and calls the Diaoyu Islands.
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“The 1307 vessels of the China Coast Guard conducted patrols within the territorial waters of the Diaoyu Islands. This was a lawful patrol operation carried out by the China Coast Guard to protect its rights and interests,” the statement said.
The deployment to the disputed islands comes amid heightened tensions in China over comments made by nationalist Gaoichi last week that suggested Japan might respond militarily to a Chinese attack on the self-governing island of Taiwan.
This infuriated China, which claims that Taiwan is an integral part of its territory, and its consul general in Osaka said, “The protruding dirty head should be cut off.”
This comment, in turn, prompted a formal diplomatic complaint from Japan.
China subsequently summoned the Japanese ambassador on Friday and issued a travel warning for its citizens to avoid traveling to Japan.
Three Chinese airlines announced Saturday that tickets to Japan can be refunded or changed for free.
Taiwan was once the stronghold of nationalist strongman Chiang Kai-shek, a close U.S. ally who defected to Taiwan after his defeat by communist forces on mainland China in 1949. But Taiwan has since developed its own democratic culture and political system, and has resented threats of military action from Beijing.
Taiwanese authorities insist that only the islanders should decide their future, but Beijing has never ruled out using force to seize territory.
Japanese leaders have so far avoided publicly mentioning Taiwan when discussing such scenarios, refusing to take any official position beyond saying the conflict must be resolved peacefully, a position known as “strategic ambiguity.”
