TOKYO -- China has raised the stakes in the dispute over the Senkaku Islands in the East China Sea, crossing what has so far been a red line by sending a naval vessel into a contiguous zone.
A Jiangkai 1-class frigate in the early hours of June 9 made a surprise incursion into the 12-nautical mile (22km) band that stretches from the outer limit of Japan's territorial waters around the Senkakus.
