Japan has lodged a diplomatic protest with China after its coastguards were blocked from conducting a marine survey in disputed waters, officials say. A Chinese ship had ordered Japanese coastguards to stop surveying waters 170km (105 miles) north of Kumejima, in the southern Okinawa prefecture. Japan's chief cabinet secretary Osamu Fujimura called the demand "unacceptable". Both countries claim exploration rights to a gas field in the area. Read More

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