File Photo: Japan's Prime Minister Shinzo Abe and Chinese President Xi Jinping meet on the sidelines of the Asia Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) meetings in Beijing, November 10, 2014 (Reuters)
Chinese ships returned to territorial waters around islands at the centre of a dispute with Japan on Tuesday, the coastguard said, the first incursion since a Sino-Japanese summit aimed at reducing tensions.
Three Chinese coastguard vessels sailed into the 12-nautical-mile zone around the Japanese-controlled Senkaku islands, which China claims and calls the Diaoyus, shortly after 10:00 am (0100 GMT), the Japanese coastguard said. They left two hours later.
The move has become a familiar one over the last two years as Asia's largest economies squabbled over the ownership of the uninhabited chain, but had not happened since a meeting between Chinese President Xi Jinping and Japan's Prime Minister Shinzo Abe raised hopes of a detente.
True to form, both sides were hailing the other to warn them to leave the area, the Japanese coastguard spokesman said.
Relations between Japan and China have been in deep freeze over the ownership of the islands and what Beijing views as Japan's rewriting of history- especially concerning World War II.
After his meeting with Xi, Abe said "Japan and China, we need each other."
The get-together on November 10 was seen as a symbolic first step toward reconciliation, but one that was short on details.
Chinese ships last entered the islands' territorial waters on November 3, the Japanese coastguard said.