Naha, Okinawa Pref., Dec. 20 (Jiji Press)–Two Chinese coast guard ships entered Japanese waters off the Senkaku Islands in the East China Sea early Monday morning.

It was the 34th intrusion into the Japanese waters around the Okinawa Prefecture island chain by Chinese government ships this year, and the first since Thursday.

The Japanese-administered islands are claimed by China, which calls them Diaoyu.

The two Chinese ships chased two Japanese fishing boats to go into Japanese waters southeast of Taisho Island in the Senkaku chain and elsewhere between 3:50 a.m. (6:50 p.m. Sunday) and 4:20 a.m., according to the Japan Coast Guard’s 11th regional headquarters in Naha, the capital of the southernmost prefecture.

As the Chinese ships tried to approach the fishing boats, the Japan Coast Guard blocked their paths and warned them to leave the waters, securing the safety of the fishing boats.