The Senkaku Islands off Okinawa Prefecture are seen in this file photo taken in October 2011. (Pool photo)

       SHISHI, China (Kyodo) -- A Chinese-set suspension of fishing in the East China Sea ended Monday, sparking fears that Beijing may send an inordinate number of government and fishing vessels into or near the Japanese-controlled Senkaku Islands.

       Some fishermen in China's southeastern Fujian Province told Kyodo News that they would get close to the uninhabited islets, claimed by Beijing, although Chinese local authorities have instructed them not to operate near the "sensitive waters."

       The Senkakus, called Diaoyu in China, have long been at the center of conflict between the two Asian countries, as Beijing has ratcheted up pressure on Tokyo by constantly sending its ships into or near the Japanese territorial waters to challenge the status quo.

       In August 2016, a group of China Coast Guard vessels and as many as 300 fishing boats crowded around the islands. Some of them repeatedly intruded into Japanese waters despite a flurry of high-level protests from Tokyo.

       Earlier this year, the Japan Coast Guard issued exclusion orders to a total of 80 Chinese fishing ships suspected of illegally operating in the Japanese territorial waters in the East China Sea, a source familiar with the matter said.

       The orders target foreign fishing vessels engaging in illegal operations or trying to do so in Japan's territorial waters, the source said, adding its patrol boats urge them to move out by using radio or an electric bulletin board.

       All the orders this year were issued for four months through April, the source said. The Japan Coast Guard warned 138 Chinese fishing ships in 2020, 147 in 2019, 76 in 2018 and 10 in 2017.

       In February, meanwhile, China enforced a controversial law enabling its coast guard to use weapons when foreign vessels involved in illegal activities in waters it claims do not obey orders, making Sino-Japanese relations more fragile over maritime security.

       Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi has recently justified the nation's sending of official ships to the area, saying "unknown Japanese fishing vessels" entered the waters of the islets.

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