Japan said Friday that a Chinese vessel was carrying out a suspected maritime research in Tokyo's exclusive economic zone near the disputed islands in the East China Sea.

A Japanese patrol boat confirmed that the Chinese research ship was sailing on Thursday and Friday by extending a wire into the sea some 150 kilometres (93 miles) northeast of one of the Senkaku islands, a coastguard spokesman said.

"We told them to stop the research activities but they have not reacted to our instruction," the spokesman said, adding that the Japanese patrol boat continued monitoring the Chinese vessel.

The uninhabited islets, known in China as the Diaoyus, are at the centre of a festering row between Tokyo and Beijing.

The Japanese government has long complained about China's routine dispatch of coast guard ships to waters surrounding the islands.

Relations between Japan and China deteriorated in 2012 when Tokyo "nationalised" some of the islets.

Since then, the two top Asian economies have taken gradual steps to mend fences but relations remain tense.

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Ankara (AFP) April 18, 2018
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