China sends patrol ships to contested islands controlled by Japan - Washington Post

The marine agency is a paramilitary force whose ships are often lightly armed, and Xinhua says it had drawn up a plan of action to safeguard China's sovereignty of the islands.

Beijing warned Monday that Japan would suffer unspecified consequences if Tokyo purchased the islands from private owners, as it formally did Tuesday. Japan already controls the islands, known to Japanese as the Senkakus and to Chinese as the Diaoyus, but Beijing sees the purchase as a further affront to its claims.

Copyright 2012 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.