Japan accuses China of sailing into its waters just days after a Chinese spy plane violated Japanese airspace

• Japan says a Chinese Navy survey ship sailed into its territorial waters on Saturday.
• The incident comes just days after a Chinese military spy plane flew into Japanese airspace.
• China asserted that the two incidents weren’t linked, adding that the ship’s passage was legal.

Japan  Monday that the Tokara Strait “can be sured for international navigation, and by sailing through the strait, the Chinese vessel was exercising its right of transit passage, which is fully lawful and legitimate,” citing the United Nations’ international maritime laws.

She added that there was “no need to arbitrarily link or interpret” the two incidents.

China and Japan find themselves at a particularly sensitive moment in their relations as they attempt to work through critical issues, such as Japan’s release of treated radioactive water from the Fukushima nuclear power plant last fall and Beijing’s rising tensions with Taiwan.