China sends frigate to chase away Russian warship hovering outside Senkakus

China has sent a frigate to chase away a Russian warship hovering outside the disputed Senkaku Islands in the East China Sea. The move indicates Beijing's resolve to claim its right over the Tokyo-controlled islands, called the Diaoyu Islands in China.

According to the Japanese Defense Ministry, the Chinese frigate sailed into the so-called contiguous zone of Senkakus on Monday for about six minutes, chasing a Russian frigate that entered the waters, according to Kyodo News.

Japan said that the Russian vessel stayed in the waters for over an hour, and appears to have done so to avoid a typhoon. China's actions of chasing away the Russian vessel by making it appear as if it were patrolling around its own territory was to demonstrate its territorial claim. The Japanese ministry added that this move has caused a serious situation and has exacerbated tensions.

Tokyo has already registered its protest as Japanese Senior Deputy Foreign Minister Shigeo Yamada contacted Chinese Ambassador to Japan Kong Xuanyou by phone, expressing grave concern over the incident.

Although Tokyo called for Moscow to take an appropriate response, it stopped short of protesting to Russia, given that the country does not lay claims to the Senkakus and because the vessel was only inside the contiguous zone to avoid the typhoon.

There are fears that Russia and China are trying to corner Japan over the Senkakus issue, and there are apprehensions that the Russian vessel's presence was a joint move by China and Russia.

According to a report by South China Morning Post, the incident had nothing to do with China-Russia cooperation.

The People's Liberation Army didn't send any warships to form a joint flotilla with any Russian warships this time, Zhou Chenming, a researcher at the Yuan Wang military science and technology institute, told the news agency. The Chinese frigate had to intercept it and keep watch because the Russian warship was a foreign vessel intruding into Diaoyu waters. He said that the PLA Navy takes the same approach in dealing with all foreign vessels.

He said the interception was intended to prevent misunderstandings and misjudgment, because the Russian warship was supposed to alert their PLA counterpart if it was going to sail into the sensitive waters. Some analysts believe Russia and China are colluding, considering the joint exercises conducted by the countries recently near Japan's shores.

According to Ni Lexiong, from the department of political science at the Shanghai University of Political Science and Law, a Russian warship's presence was meant to send a message to Tokyo. It has already been sent a message to Tokyo: You are now the common enemy of Beijing and Moscow, Ni told South China Morning Post.