Japan's Prime Minister Suga Yoshihide has strongly urged Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi to act positively on maritime and security issues around the Senkaku Islands in the East China Sea.
Wang made a courtesy visit on Suga at the Prime Minister's Office in Tokyo on Wednesday. They talked for about 20 minutes.
Data obtained by NHK show that Chinese patrol ships have repeatedly made complicated movements in waters off the Senkaku Islands in Okinawa Prefecture, forcing Japan Coast Guard vessels to deal with them with increased difficulty.
Chinese government ships sailed in Japan's territorial waters off the islands in the East China Sea or the contiguous zone just outside the waters for 300 days this year as of Thursday, renewing a record high.
Japanese Defense Minister Kishi Nobuo and US Acting Secretary of Defense Christopher Miller reaffirmed that Article Five of the Japan-US Security Treaty applies to the Senkaku Islands in the East China Sea.
Article Five obliges the United States to defend territories under Japan's administrative control.
Japan's Prime Minister Suga Yoshihide says US President-elect Joe Biden has suggested that Washington will help Japan defend the Senkaku Islands in the East China Sea under the bilateral security treaty.
Suga and Biden spoke for the first time over the phone for about 10 minutes on Thursday morning, Japan time.
This year has seen a record high number of days that Chinese government ships have sailed just outside Japan's territorial waters around the Senkaku Islands in the East China Sea.
The Japan Coast Guard said that as of 9:00 a.m. on Monday, four Chinese vessels were sailing in waters off Kubashima, one of the Senkakus. The area is in the contiguous zone just outside of Japan's territorial waters.
The commander of US forces in Japan has said the capabilities of Japan's Self-Defense Forces and the US military can be used to "deliver combat troops to defend" the Senkaku Islands in the East China Sea.
Lieutenant General Kevin Schneider was speaking to reporters on Monday aboard a Maritime Self-Defense Force destroyer.
The Japanese government has lodged a protest against China's new digital "museum" that underscores Beijing's claims to the Senkaku Islands in the East China Sea.
Chief Cabinet Secretary Kato Katsunobu told reporters on Monday that Japan filed the protest with China via diplomatic channels, calling for the website to be deleted.
A group of lawmakers from Japan's main ruling Liberal Democratic Party says it will urge the government to step up the function of its control over the Senkaku Islands in the East China Sea.
Japan controls the islands. China and Taiwan claim them. The Japanese government maintains the islands are an inherent part of Japan's territory, in terms of history and international law. It says there is no issue of sovereignty to be resolved over them.
Japan's Coast Guard says Chinese patrol ships have been spotted just outside Japanese territorial waters in the East China Sea for 100 straight days.
Coast guard officials say four Chinese patrol vessels were navigating in the contiguous zone outside the territorial waters near the Senkaku Islands at 9 a.m. on Wednesday.