Chinese Surveillance Ships Arrive at Disputed Islands

Japan's prime minister convened a crisis panel over the uninhabited islands claimed by Japan, China and South Korea

A flotilla of six Chinese surveillance ships entered Japan's territorial waters early Friday near the recently nationalized Senkaku Islands, the Japan Coast Guard said, prompting crisis panels to be set up in the prime minister's office and the National Police Agency.

The uninhabited islets have been claimed by China and Taiwan for decades, but Japan, which put them under its control in 1895, nationalized them Tuesday in a bid to end the smoldering dispute. The islets are known as the Diaoyu in China and Tiaoyutai in Taiwan.