16 Sep 2008. 09:43 EDT (13:43 GMT)
Japanska mornarica prekinula dvodnevnu potragu za neindentifikovanom podmornicom koja je ušla u japanske vode. Kinezi su saopštili da nisu umešani u incident.
Japan's navy on Sept. 16 called off a two-day search for a foreign submarine that intruded into its waters, the defense ministry said, as China reportedly denied any involvement.
Naval vessel Atago spotted the mystery sub Sept. 14, but the craft did not raise a national flag or surface, breaching international laws, according to the defense ministry.
Atago, an Aegis-equipped warship, chased the submarine off the Pacific coast of southwestern Kochi prefecture for two hours but then lost track of it.
"We have been searching around the maritime area for two days but have been unable to obtain new information," Defence Minister Yoshimasa Hayashi told reporters. The search involved two planes and four vessels.
Using sonar, Atago confirmed Sept. 14 that the submarine does not belong to the Japanese navy nor the U.S., which stations more than 40,000 troops in the country.
Hayashi had said Japan would lodge a protest with the country through diplomatic channels once it identified the submarine's provenance.
China has denied its involvement in the incident and dismissed Japanese media reports suggesting the submarine was Chinese, Kyodo News reported.
The Chinese foreign ministry contacted the Japanese Embassy in Beijing on Sept. 15, describing the media reports as false and regrettable, Kyodo said.
It was the first time in four years that a foreign submarine had intruded into Japanese waters, according to the defense ministry.
In November 2004, a Chinese nuclear-powered submarine entered Japanese waters. Beijing apologized less than a week later, according to Japan.
Russian submarines have also been spotted in Japanese waters in the past.
