China, Japan give conflicting accounts of confrontation around Senkaku Islands

PHOTO CAPTION: Illustrative photo — A Chinese marine surveillance ship (back) is seen alongside a Japanese Coast Guard ship near the Senkaku islands in the East China Sea, Feb. 4, 2013. (Japan Coast Guard photo)

BEIJING/TOKYO  - China and Japan gave conflicting versions of a maritime confrontation involving their coast guards and a Japanese fishing vessel around the disputed Senkaku Islands on Tuesday.

China's Coast Guard said the Japanese fishing vessel had illegally entered the waters of the Senkaku Islands, which Beijing calls the Diaoyu Islands, before being expelled, in a statement which also claimed the islands are Chinese territory.

However, Japan's Coast Guard said it intercepted and expelled two Chinese Coast Guard ships as they approached the fishing vessel in the early hours of Tuesday morning.

A diplomatic spat between China and Japan has intensified since Japanese Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi told parliament on November 7 that a hypothetical Chinese attack on democratically ruled Taiwan could trigger a military response from Tokyo.

 (Reporting by Joe Cash in Beijing and Mariko Katsumura in Tokyo; Editing by Tom Hogue and Stephen Coates // REUTERS)