Ministry: Navy ship passes strait 'for international navigation'

The Ministry of National Defense said on Wednesday that a Chinese naval ship passed a Japanese strait "used for international navigation" and it had abided by the freedom of navigation principle in international law.

Earlier on Wednesday, the Japanese Defense Ministry claimed that a Chinese naval ship entered "territorial waters" near Japan's Kagoshima Prefecture.

In response, the Chinese ministry told reporters in a written reply that the Chinese naval ship was passing the Tokara Strait, a "territorial strait used for international navigation".

The passage of the Chinese naval ship "abided by the freedom of navigation principle of the United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea"，the ministry said.

Also, Foreign Ministry spokesman Lu Kang told a press conference in Beijing on Wednesday that the passage was part of planned regular training and it is not compulsory for China to report such a passage to Japan in advance.

Japan's intentions "deserve to be doubted" as it has deliberately tried to sensationalize the passage, the spokesman said.