China coastguard raises Japan island row

TOKYO, Japan, July 26, 2013 (AFP) - The Chinese coastguard entered waters disputed with Japan for the first time Friday, straining an already tense situation as Tokyo mulled plans to establish a US Marines-style force to protect its islands.

Four vessels spent three hours in the territorial waters of a Tokyo-controlled archipelago, where they traded warnings with their Japanese counterparts.

The move --by vessels whose crews were likely to be armed, according to academics-- marks an upping of the ante in the blistering row over ownership of the Senkakus, which Beijing claims and calls the Diaoyus.

It came the day Japan's defence ministry recommended establishing amphibious units and acquiring surveillance drones to protect outlying islands. A decades old row over the ownership of the Senkakus came to a head in September when Japan nationalised three of the islands. Since then, China has become increasingly active in the seas around them.