The Japanese and U.S. coast guards held rare joint exercises over the weekend near the Ogasawara Islands, some 1,000 kilometers south of Tokyo, the Japan Coast Guard announced Monday.
The exercises, which involved the Japan Coast Guard's 6,500-ton Akitsushima patrol vessel and the U.S. Coast Guard's 4,500-ton Kimball cutter, took place between the islands of Chichijima and Hahajima and lasted nearly four hours Sunday.
The exercises came as the China Coast Guard continues to send ships near the Japanese-controlled Senkaku Islands in the East China Sea, which are also claimed by China, where they are known as the Diaoyu.
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