Japanese and Chinese coast guard vessels traded accusations on Tuesday after an encounter near the disputed Senkaku islands — also known as the Diaoyu islands in China — in the East China Sea. Japan’s coast guard said four Chinese vessels were operating near the islands, two of which entered what Tokyo considers its territorial waters. The Chinese ships were approaching a Japanese fishing vessel in the area, according to Japan’s coast guard. The Japanese coast guard said it then “issued orders to leave … successfully forcing the Chinese coast guard vessels to leave Japanese territorial waters by approximately 9:20 am (0020 GMT) today.” Tokyo described the Chinese vessels’ actions as “a violation of international law.” In a separate statement, China’s coast guard said that a Japanese fishing boat had “intruded into” its territorial waters and that its ships had taken “necessary measures to warn and expel it.”

Full report : Japanese and Chinese coast guard vessels confronted each other near the disputed Senkaku island chain, with both sides claiming they expelled the other.