BEIJING - Chinese marine surveillance ships will continue to patrol in the waters off the Diaoyu Islands, Foreign Ministry spokesman Hong Lei said on Wednesday.

Hong made the comment in response to a question after it was reported in the media that Japanese right-wingers entered waters off the Diaoyu Islands on Wednesday. Chinese marine surveillance ships also entered the waters for a patrol.

"China is closely watching the development of the issue. Chinese marine surveillance ships will continue to patrol in the waters off the Diaoyu Islands," Hong said.

China firmly opposes the Japanese right-wingers' illegal entrance to the waters off the islands, Hong said. "What is the right-wingers'  purpose in repeatedly provoking trouble on the Diaoyu Islands under the current situation, especially when China and Japan are busily consulting with each other on the dispute? Why is the Japanese government again indulging them?"

In recent years, it has been Japanese right-wingers that have seeked to use the Diaoyu Islands issue and create provocation and cause tensions and conflicts between China and Japan, Hong said.

Looking back at history, Japanese right-wingers once led the country to militarism and are the source of war, bringing profound suffering to Asian countries and their people, Hong said. He added that the dispute over the Diaoyu Islands is also an outstanding problem of the war.

"We must stress that history cannot be overturned, denied or forgotten. Chinese people, Asian people and the world at large should be highly alert to the ambitions of the Japanese right-wingers,"  Hong said.