Tokyo and Beijing have given different accounts of the clash as relations between the two countries continue to sour following comments made by Japan's prime minister about 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 Tuesday, 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.