A Chinese ocean survey ship was confirmed on the 30th operating in Japan's exclusive economic zone off Hateruma Island in Taketomi, Okinawa Prefecture, in what appears to be a survey, and the Japan Coast Guard has asked it to stop, saying a survey without Japan's consent cannot be allowed.
The coast guard's request rests on the position that coastal states must give their consent before another country carries out survey activity in their exclusive economic zone, the waters beyond the territorial sea in which a country holds economic rights.
The coast guard did not say how long the ship had been in the area or what it was doing there. The waters around Hateruma lie near the Senkaku Islands, which Japan administers and China claims, and Chinese survey activity there has drawn coast guard responses before.