China today warned Japan against its "provocative" plan to station officials in islands in the East China Sea at the centre of a bitter dispute, saying it will resolutely defend its territorial sovereignty.
"We are severely concerned about the remarks made by the Japanese officials regarding our territorial sovereignty. We are resolute and determined in safeguarding it," Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesman Hong Lei told a media briefing here, answering questions about Japan's statement about its plans to station officials at the disputed islands, called Diaoyu by China and Senkakus by Japan.
"We will not tolerate any of our any provocative actions against our territorial sovereignty. Japan should bear the consequences of all its provocative actions," Hong said.
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He was reacting to reported comments by Chief Japanese Cabinet Secretary Yoshihide Suga that the government headed by Prime Minister Shinzo Abe made "resolute but calm responses to defend our territory, territorial waters and airspace decisively", he said.
"Our country will never make a concession on the matter of sovereignty," he said, according to media reports from Tokyo.
Asked whether Japan might station government officials on the islands to reinforce Japan's claims, Suga said, "That is one option".
A year ago, the Japanese government bought three of the isles in the East China Sea from a private Japanese party, inflaming anger in China where there were big anti-Japan protests over the purchase.
Since then, China deployed its naval and coast guard vessels which aggressively patrolled the waters jostling with that of Japanese Coast Guard vessels. The two sides also scrambled jets few times but avoided any direct hostilities so far.
This month marks the completion of one year of hostilities between the two countries which put the over USD 345 billion bilateral trade in jeopardy.
To coincide with the anniversary, China pressed seven Coast Guard vessels around the waters of the islands.
"The vessels patrolled the country's territorial waters surrounding the Diaoyu Islands," China's State Oceanic Administration (SOA) said.
It marked the 59th Diaoyu Islands patrol by Chinese law-enforcement vessels since September 2012, when Japan announced a plan to "purchase" the islands, according to the SOA, state-run Xinhua news agency reported.
Hong defended the deployment of Chinese ships saying that "Chinese government officials patrol the waters are normal activity to safeguard its territorial sovereignty".
