A China Coast Guard ship formation has passed through the waters of the Senkaku Islands on a "rights enforcement patrol", the China Coast Guard says.

The statement on Sunday comes as Beijing ramps up tensions with Japan over its prime minister's remarks on Taiwan.

A diplomatic spat between China and Japan has intensified since Japanese Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi told parliament on November 7 that a hypothetical Chinese attack on democratically-ruled Taiwan could trigger a military response from Tokyo.

The remarks sparked an angry response from Beijing, which has signalled that it expects Takaichi to retract them in some fashion.

China claims Taiwan as its own territory and has not ruled out the use of force to take control of the island, which sits just 110km from Japanese territory

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