In this Sept. 2, 2012 file photo, the survey ship Koyo Maru, left, chartered by Tokyo city officials, sails around Minamikojima, foreground, Kitakojima, middle right, and Uotsuri, background, the tiny islands in the East China Sea, called Senkaku in Japanese and Diaoyu in Chinese. Japan鈥檚 Cabinet formally announced Tuesday, Sept. 11, 2012 that the government will purchase several disputed islands that China also claims 鈥� a plan that Beijing said would be met with 鈥渟erious consequences.鈥� AP Photo/Kyodo 黑料社, File
TOKYO 鈥� Chinese and Japanese government ships exchanged warnings Friday in waters near disputed islands in the East China Sea, while Tokyo called on Beijing to protect its citizens amid anti-Japan protests and reported assaults in China.
Tensions between the Asian giants have flared anew after the Japanese government bought the islands from their private Japanese owners this week. The uninhabited islands, claimed by both countries as well as Taiwan, have become a rallying point for nationalists on both sides.
In response to Japan鈥檚 purchase, China on Friday sent six surveillance ships into what Japan says are its territorial waters around the islands, called Senkaku by Japan and Diaoyu by China. Japanese coast guard ships radioed warnings to the Chinese vessels and two or three moved out of the territorial waters, said Yasuhiko Oku, a Japanese coast guard official.
Japan controls the islands, which are surrounded by rich fishing grounds and are near key shipping lanes, but China doesn鈥檛 recognize those claims. State-controlled China Central Television repeatedly played footage of a Chinese Marine Surveillance officer aboard one of the ships radioing the Japanese vessels to demand they leave.
鈥淭he actions of your ships violate China鈥檚 sovereignty and rights,鈥� the officer was shown saying. 鈥淎ny unilateral act from your side regarding the Diaoyu islands and its affiliated islands is illegal and invalid. Please stop any infringing acts. Otherwise, your side will bear the consequences caused by your actions.鈥�
With a typhoon approaching the area, by Friday afternoon all six Chinese ships had left the 24-mile zone around the islands, said Yoshiyuki Terakado, another Japanese Coast Guard official.
Emotions have been running high since April, when Tokyo鈥檚 nationalistic governor, Shintaro Ishihara, proposed buying and developing the islands so that they wouldn鈥檛 fall into Chinese hands. Activists from both sides landed on the islands in August.
To block Ishihara鈥檚 plan, which would have infuriated China, Prime Minister Yoshihiko Noda鈥檚 government was left with little choice but to buy the islands. The government doesn鈥檛 plan to develop them, but the move has still angered China, and Beijing has warned of 鈥渟erious consequences.鈥�
Anti-Japanese protests have since been held in various Chinese cities, and state media has published calls for a boycott of Japanese goods.
The dispute has stirred up emotional memories of Japan鈥檚 brutal occupation that ended only at the close of World War II. While Japan routinely apologizes for its wartime actions, its politicians often anger China by visiting the Yasukuni Shrine, a memorial to Japan鈥檚 war dead, including top war criminals.
The Japanese Consulate in Shanghai reported on its website that several Japanese have been assaulted or harassed in the past few weeks. It said Chinese have thrown water bottles and hurled insults at Japanese walking on the street. One person was hit with soda by a Chinese person who shouted 鈥淛apanese!鈥� A consular official said more than four people had been hurt in anti-Japanese attacks in the Shanghai area.
Japanese Chief Cabinet Secretary Osamu Fujimura called on Beijing to take steps to assure the safety of Japanese tourists and residents in China.
Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesman Hong Lei said while Chinese were upset with 鈥渧iolations of Chinese sovereignty,鈥� they had no problem with 鈥淛apanese people in general.鈥� He urged Chinese to 鈥渆xpress demands legally and reasonably.鈥�
While visiting Australia, Japanese Foreign Minister Koichiro Gemba told reporters that 鈥渨e should never let the situation escalate,鈥� and expressed 鈥渟trong hopes for the Chinese government to respond to the situation in an appropriate and also a calm manner.鈥�
Officials both in Tokyo and Beijing maintained that they had the right to send ships to the islands.
China鈥檚 foreign ministry said its decision to send its ships was part of legal 鈥渓aw enforcement and patrol activities aimed to demonstrate China鈥檚 jurisdiction over the Diaoyu Islands.鈥�
Fujimura called the fleet鈥檚 deployment an unprecedented violation of Japanese territory and 鈥渆xtremely regrettable.鈥� Japan summoned China鈥檚 ambassador to lodge a protest.
Chinese Assistant Foreign Minister Le Yucheng said Japanese authorities have let the situation escalate by appeasing and giving free rein to 鈥榯rouble-making right-wing forces鈥� at home.
Le catalogued incidents earlier this year that he said were provocations, including a fishing trip to waters around the islands by Japanese lawmakers and a visit to the islands by right-wing activists to mourn war dead.
鈥淛apan鈥檚 鈥榩urchase of the islands鈥� is by no means an isolated event,鈥� Le told more than a dozen Chinese scholars at a symposium on the history of the islands held in a Beijing government compound. 鈥淚t is a result of the changing political climate in Japan. There is a sinister tendency inside Japan that is taking Japan and China-Japan relations down an extremely dangerous road.鈥�