A Chinese navy survey ship was spotted at about 3 p.m. Tuesday by Maritime Self-Defense Force P3-C antisubmarine reconnaissance planes in Japan's exclusive economic zone about 200 kilometers to the west of Okinotorishima island, Defense Agency officials said Tuesday.
The Nandiao 411 survey ship, which was towing a wire, was believed to have been conducting oceanographic research, the officials said.
The Maritime Staff Office apparently has no information on the spotted Chinese survey ship's displacement and equipment.
The Foreign Ministry sent a request for an explanation from the Chinese Foreign Ministry through the Japanese Embassy in Beijing.
The ministry asked China to refrain from taking such actions without notifying Japan in advance if it wished to avoid raising concerns within Japan.
A Chinese Foreign Ministry official said it had not received any report of survey activities because it is the Chinese navy that conducts them.
Under the U. N. Convention on the Law of the Sea, prior approval is required from concerned countries when one country wants to conduct oceanographic research in the exclusive economic zone of another.
The countries concerned can refuse such requests.
Because battleships are allowed to sail in international waters, they do not need such approval.
In early June, the government lodged a complaint with Beijing over oil exploration conducted by a Chinese consortium near the line dividing the two countries' exclusive economic zones.
http://www.yomiuri.co.jp/newse/20040708wo42.htm
This is really getting out of hand...