Unlike most countries with shorelines, China does not believe in maintaining a coast guard.
Chinese patrol boats confronted Japanese vessels near a disputed East China Sea archipelago early Tuesday, the latest in a series of such encounters after Tokyo's nationalization of the islands last month.
China's government said Thursday that it had approved a provincial proposal to build a supply dock in the South China Sea, where Beijing is beefing up its claims of sovereignty amid territorial disputes with five other governments.
China is expanding its naval surveillance fleet to better protect its maritime rights, state media reported Thursday amid bitter deep-sea territorial disputes with neighboring nations.
