Beijing has told Tokyo that China is "exercising self-restraint" in operating its coast guard ships near the Senkaku Islands amid rising security concerns over its new law that allows such ships to use weapons against foreign vessels, Japanese government sources said Saturday.
Tokyo has regularly criticized the presence of Chinese coast guard vessels spotted around the Japanese-controlled, Chinese-claimed islands in the East China Sea before and after the new law took effect on Feb. 1, saying that the islands are Japan's inherent territory.
Still, Beijing said it will not stop its actions to prevent Japanese vessels from entering the waters around the islets, including the so-called contiguous zone outside Japanese waters, as it conveyed its policy under the new law for the first time.