A Chinese navy research vessel entered Japanese territorial waters west of Kuchinoerabu Island (Kagoshima Prefecture) on Saturday morning. According to the Japanese Ministry of Defense, the ship left the waters after about 2 hours.
In this connection, the Chinese chargé d'affaires was summoned to the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the country, to whom a protest was given.
According to international law, ships, including military ones, have the right to enter the territorial waters of other countries when passing through straits, but the condition for this should be the absence of actions that could cause damage to the country, whose waters are used for passage.
According to TV channel NHK, Tokyo is analyzing the Chinese side's goals, but such research vessels can collect data, including on the nature of seabed and water temperatures that can be used for underwater navigation.
On August 26, the Japanese Ministry of Defense reported a violation of the country's airspace by a Chinese military aircraft. Then a protest was also submitted to Beijing.