China's Defense Ministry has confirmed that a ship passed through Japan's Tokara Strait, adding that the movement was in line with the UN Convention on the Law of the Sea.

Earlier, Tokyo officials said a Chinese ship entered Japanese waters near Kagoshima on Wednesday morning, sailing southeast before exiting the general area about 90 minutes later. The area is part of a Japanese island chain that divides the East China Sea and the Pacific Ocean, and is not subject to the China-Japan territorial dispute.

International laws allow ships of all states to exercise the right of innocent passage through the region.

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