Tokyo has called on Beijing to remove a Chinese buoy floating in Japan’s exclusive economic zone (EEZ) and also called for an end to the countless “unwanted telephone calls” received by its embassy in China, a Japanese official said on Wednesday.
“We have been protesting in both Tokyo and Beijing since the Japanese Coast Guard discovered a buoy in Japan’s EEZ in the East China Sea in July,” a Ministry of Affairs official told AFP Foreign.
The buoy was spotted near the Tokyo-controlled Senkaku Islands, which China claims under the name Diaoyu, he said.
“We have called for the immediate removal of the buoy,” this official added, speaking on condition of anonymity in accordance with international law.
According to him, China had already placed a buoy in Japan’s EEZ in 2018, extending up to 200 nautical miles (370 kilometers) off the coast of the archipelago.
Tensions between the two countries have increased since Japan discharged treated water from the damaged Fukushima nuclear power plant into the sea on August 24.
Beijing has since suspended all imports of Japanese seafood, causing food shipments from Japan to China to fall 41.2% in August, according to data released by Tokyo on Wednesday.
Since the end of August, a wave of unsolicited phone calls apparently from China has also targeted companies and citizens in Japan as well as government organizations.
For its part, the Japanese embassy in Beijing received more than 400,000 harassment calls, according to the Japanese agency Kyodo.
“I cannot immediately confirm this number, but our diplomatic missions have received countless unsolicited phone calls,” the ministry official said.
Tokyo has repeatedly protested in Beijing against anti-Japanese actions attributed to China since the Fukushima waters were discharged, including throwing bricks at the Japanese embassy in Beijing.