Tokyo summoned the Chinese ambassador to Japan on Tuesday after eight state-owned Chinese ships reportedly sailed into Japanese territorial waters.

Tokyo summoned the Chinese ambassador to Japan on Tuesday after eight state-owned Chinese ships reportedly sailed into Japanese territorial waters.

The flotilla is the biggest to sail into the disputed waters in a single day since Tokyo nationalized part of the archipelago in September.

Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe said Tuesday that “it would be natural for us to expel by force if [the Chinese] were to make a landing” on the archipelago in the East China Sea, Agence France Presse reported.

“We would take decisive action against any attempt to enter territorial waters and to land” on the islands, Abe stated.