China coastguard keeps heat on Japan in Diaoyus row

Beijing kept up the pressure on Tokyo over the Diaoyu Islands yesterday, sending its coastguard near the disputed island chain following a weekend of sabre-rattling by both sides.

Four Chinese coastguard vessels sailed into the territorial waters around the Diaoyus, which the Japanese call the Senkakus, the Japanese coastguard said. The ships remained in the area for about two hours.

The patrol came days after China, in one of the strongest statements of the increasingly acrimonious spat over the islands, said that any firing on its unmanned aircraft "would constitute a serious provocation, an act of war of sorts".

"We would have to take firm countermeasures, and all consequences would be the responsibility of the side that caused the provocation," China's defence ministry said.

Earlier, Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe had invoked support for a robust regional response to what he said was Beijing's attempt to "change the status quo by force".

The patrols followed reports that Abe had given the okay to a plan to shoot down drones entering Japanese airspace if they did not heed warnings to leave.