TOKYO: Two Chinese coast guard ships stayed in Japanese territorial waters around the Senkaku Islands in the East China Sea for a record 57 hours until Tuesday evening.

This marked the longest single intrusion by such ships in the Japanese waters since Japan nationalized islands in the Senkaku chain in September 2012. The previous record of 39 hours was set by two Chinese coast guard ships between July 4 and 5 this year.

For the latest intrusion, the two Haijing vessels sailed into the waters around between 10:45 a.m. and 10:50 a.m. Sunday (1:45 a.m. and 1:50 a.m. GMT), according to the Japan Coast Guard’s 11th regional headquarters in Naha, the capital of the southernmost Japan prefecture of Okinawa.

The two ships repeatedly tried to approach a Japanese fishing boat operating in the waters. They left the Japanese water around between 8:20 p.m. and 8:25 p.m. Tuesday.

The Japanese-administrated Senkaku Islands are claimed by China, which calls them Diaoyu.

JIJI Press