China Coast Guard ran 134 patrols around Senkaku Islands in five years, state media says

BEIJING - China's Coast Guard organized 134 patrols and deployed 550,000 vessels and 6,000 aircraft around the disputed Senkaku Islands in the past five years, state-run CCTV said on Friday.

Colleen Howe/Reuters

January 30, 2026

China Coast Guard ran 134 patrols around Senkaku Islands in five years, state media says

A China Coast Guard vessel sails near a Japan Coast Guard vessel around a group of disputed islands called Senkaku Islands in Japan, also known in China as Diaoyu Islands, September 14, 2025.

Hitoshi Nakama/Handout via Reuters

BEIJING - China's Coast Guard organised 134 patrols and deployed 550,000 vessels and 6,000 aircraft around the disputed Senkaku Islands in the past five years, state-run CCTV said on Friday.

In 2025, it patrolled the disputed islands in the East China Sea, which Beijing calls the Diaoyu Islands, for 357 days out of the year, the report said.

The islands, administered by Japan but also claimed by China, have long been a flashpoint in relations between the two Asian powers. They were most recently the site of a maritime confrontation between the two nations last month.

-Reporting by Colleen Howe; Editing by Shri Navaratnam/Reuters