Chinese navy seen near Japanese waters

Chinese naval vessels were seen closing in on Japanese waters near a southern island of Japan’s, amid a territorial dispute that has greatly damaged diplomatic relations between the two countries, The Wall Street Journal reported. A Japanese defense ministry official said that seven Chinese navy ships were spotted 49 kilometers from Japanese island Yonaguni and approximately 200 kilometers from the disputed Diaoyu/Senakaku islands. Chinese navy ships have continued to legally pass through Japanese waters and areas they have been warned not to by the Japanese government. The Japanese defense ministry said it had no information on the incident. “It could have been that they were avoiding a typhoon,” an official said. “Sometimes China announces afterwards that they were carrying out a military exercise, other times we receive no explanations.”