Japanese and Chinese vessels engaged in a fresh standoff around disputed islands yesterday, the two countries' coast guards said.

Relations have been strained since Japan's new Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi suggested last month that her country could intervene militarily in any Chinese attack on Taiwan.

Japan's coast guard said two Chinese coast guard patrol ships entered Japan's territorial waters around the Senkaku Islands in the East China Sea in the early hours of yesterday, and left a few hours later.

The Japanese-administered Senkaku Islands, known as the Diaoyu in China, have been a regular flashpoint between the two nations over the decades.