Japan's coast guard releases video showing hundreds of Chinese fishing ships near a disputed island chain

Screen Shot 2016 08 17 at 9.11.57 AM

(Japanese coast guard ships approach a Chinese fishing vessel.Screen grab/The Japan Times)

The Japanese coast guard has released a video that purports to show as many as 300 Chinese fishing boats accompanied by 28 patrol ships outside Japan's territorial waters.

The Chinese ships were near the Senkaku Islands in the East China Sea. The disputed island chain, which is nothing more than uninhabited rocks, is administered by Japan but claimed by China.

Flare-ups of this sort have occurred between Beijing and Tokyo in the past. And despite The Hague's decision to reject China's claim on the South China Sea, the rapid expansion of China's navy paired with Japan's reliance on sea-lanes is a recipe for awakening Japan from its pacifist slumber.

Here's the video:

NOW WATCH: The US Navy just flexed its muscles in the world's most contested region

More From Business Insider

• China's economy is about to get pretty weird again
  

• China has been making 'under appreciated progress' on fixing its banks, but has a long way to go
  

• 'We are in a deep state of economic crisis'