TOKYO, December 18. /TASS/. Four patrol ships of the China Coast Guard entered coastal waters near the disputed islands of Senkaku (Diaoyudao) in the East China Sea, which Japan regards as its own territorial waters, the Kyodo news agency reports.

According to the media outlet, one of the ships was equipped with something resembling an automatic machine gun cannon. The last time Chinese vessels entered the area was on December 10, the agency added.

Kyodo reported on December 14 that Chinese patrol ships had shown up near the disputed islands a record 337 times since the beginning of the year.

China-Japan tensions over the islands flared up again after Tokyo announced in September 2012 that it was purchasing them from their private owners, who are Japanese citizens. After that, large-scale anti-Japanese rallies took place in China. Since then, Chinese ships have been continuously transiting near the disputed archipelago, occasionally entering its coastal waters in a demonstrative manner.