Last year, the number of days that Chinese authorities' ships sailed in the "connecting waters" around the Senkaku Islands in Okinawa Prefecture reached a record high of 333 days.
The time it has continued to invade the territorial waters is also the longest in history, and the Japan Coast Guard has decided to strengthen its security system by increasing the number of large patrol boats by eight over the 5th year of Reiwa.
According to the Japan Coast Guard, last year, 24 Chinese authorities invaded the territorial waters around the Senkaku Islands, and the total number of vessels was 78, both of which decreased from the previous year, but one invasion caused the territorial waters. It was the longest time ever to stay in Japan for 57 hours and 39 minutes from October 11th to 13th last year.
In addition, the number of days sailing in the "contiguous water area" within the range of 24 nautical miles from the coastline reached 333 days, which was significantly higher than the 282 days of the previous year and reached a record high, and the number of continuous sailing days was 8 from April last year. It was 111 days a month, the longest since the Japanese government nationalized the Senkaku Islands.
Takahiro Okushima, Secretary of the Japan Coast Guard, said at a press conference last month, "China's public vessels are becoming larger and more armed these days, and the situation is still unpredictable. I would like to take all possible measures to guard the territorial waters. ".
The Japan Coast Guard has decided to strengthen the security system by increasing the number of large patrol vessels by eight from the beginning to the 5th year of Reiwa, keeping in mind the security around the Senkaku Islands.