Japan lodged a protest with China to stop ocean research activities in Japan's exclusive economic zones (EEZ) after spotting a Chinese vessel in the country's southwest, chief cabinet secretary Yoshimasa Hayashi said on Monday.
Japan's Coast Guard found the Chinese ship Xiang Yang Hong 22 extending a wire-like object into in the ocean in the Japanese EEZ about 379 kilometers west of the island of Amami Oshima early on Sunday morning, Hayashi said.
"We protested to the Chinese Government that conducting marine scientific research in the zone without Japan's consent was unacceptable," said Hayashi, the top Japanese Government spokesperson. He added that the Chinese ship left the waters and moved westward about three hours later.
Tokyo and Beijing face a territorial dispute over a group of Japanese-administered islands in the East China Sea, called the Senkaku in Japan and Diaoyu in China.
(Reporting by Kantaro Komiya; Editing by Jacqueline Wong)