Japan-China tensions rise, the distant Yonaguni island ramps up defenses

Japan-China tensions rise, the remote Yonaguni island ramps up defenses

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Yonaguni, Nansei Islands
CNN
 — 

On most days, fisherman Kazushi Kinjo leaves port on the Japanese island of Yonaguni to catch deep sea red snapper in waters to the north.

There, fish are plentiful – and increasingly, so are Chinese Coast Guard ships.

Chinese ships patrol the sea around the Japanese-controlled Senkaku islands, an uninhabited island chain also claimed by China and Taiwan, near where Kinjo lives. The islands, which are known in China as the Diaoyu Islands and Diaoyutai in Taiwan, have become one of the focus points of increasing tensions in the region.

“The bow of one of their ships was pointed straight at us, and they were chasing us. I don’t know for sure, but I also saw what looked like cannons,” the 50-year-old fisherman told CNN, as he described one of several encounters with the Chinese Coast Guard over the past few years.

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