Japan planned in 2016 to sail defense ship near Chinese-built islet

Japan planned to sail a maritime defense ship in 2016 into an area claimed by China as its territorial waters in the South China Sea, in response to a similar move by China in Japanese waters to the north, sources familiar with Sino-Japanese ties said Saturday.The planned move, a Japanese equivalent of the "freedom of navigation operation" conducted by the U.S. Navy in the South China Sea, was never carried out, however, over concerns that going ahead with it would seriously harm bilateral ties, according to the diplomatic sources.The Chinese government led by President Xi Jinping has in re…READ FULL ARTICLE