The Japanese government has filed a complaint against China, accusing it of conducting illegal research activities in the waters of its exclusive economic zone (EEZ) near the remote Amami Islands in the East China Sea. Chief Cabinet Secretary Yoshimasa Hayashi announced this to reporters at a regular press conference.
“We have expressed our deep regret and strong protest to the Chinese government through diplomatic channels, demanding an immediate end to these illegal research activities,” he said. According to Hayashi, on September 28 and 30, the Japan Coast Guard observed a Chinese oceanographic research vessel lowering a pipe-like object to the seabed near the Amami Islands. Japanese patrol vessels used loudspeakers to demand that the Chinese vessel leave the exclusive economic zone.