Four Chinese coast guard ships intruded into Japanese territorial waters off the Senkaku Islands in Ishigaki, Okinawa Prefecture, for about two hours on Tuesday.

The Haijing ships were entered Japanese waters west-southwest of Uotsurijima in the Senkaku chain between around 10 a.m. (1 a.m. GMT) and 10:15 a.m., , according to the Japan Coast Guard’s 11th regional headquarters in Naha, the capital of Okinawa.

Chinese government ships intruded into Japanese territorial waters for the fourteenth time this year, and the first since one on July 4 to July 5.

The Haijing ships were entered Japanese waters west-southwest of Uotsurijima in the Senkaku chain between around 10 a.m. (1 a.m. GMT) and 10:15 a.m., , according to the Japan Coast Guard’s 11th regional headquarters in Naha, the capital of Okinawa.

The ships left Japanese waters south of Minamikojima, another island of the Senkakus, between around 11:45 a.m. and noon.

On July 5, Chinese coast guard ships left Japanese waters off the Senkaku Islands after an intrusion that lasted for about 39 hours, the longest since records began in September 2012.

The previous record was some 30 hours marked on July 2 to July 3.

China claims the Japanese-administered islands, which it calls Diaoyu.

JIJI Press