Japan protests China's drilling activity in East China Sea
{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}Japan's government has lodged a protest with China over drilling activity in the waters between the two countries.
Japanese Foreign Minister Fumio Kishida said Tuesday that Japan had confirmed that a moored Chinese drilling ship is conducting some kind of activity in the East China Sea.
He called China's oil and gas exploration efforts "extremely regrettable" at a time when the maritime boundaries between Japan and China have not been established.
{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}Japan has complained about similar activity before, largely in the waters between the Chinese mainland and Okinawa and other southern Japanese islands.
The two countries also are entangled in a dispute over a group of uninhabited islands that they both claim farther south in the East China Sea.