Japan coast guard says expelled Chinese ships from waters near disputed islands

Japan's coast guard said Tuesday it had expelled two Chinese ships from waters near disputed islands.

The coast guard "issued orders to leave... successfully forcing the Chinese coast guard vessels to leave Japanese territorial waters by approximately 9:20 am today," it said in a statement.

The two countries have a long-running territorial dispute over the Senkaku Islands, known as the Diaoyu in China, which lie between Taiwan and Japan's Okinawa.