Japan Takes Stand Against Chinese Intrusions in Senkaku Islands Amid Escalating Tensions

The disputed islands known as Senkaku in Japan and Diaoyu in China and Taiwan, on Sept. 15, 2010. Jiji Press/AFP/Getty Images

The Japanese government has announced that it will remove the buoys set up by China in Japan’s Exclusive Economic Zone (EEZ) around the Senkaku Islands, and for the first time, China has been made a hypothetical enemy in a U.S.-Japan military exercise. Analysts believe that China’s growing incursions in the region serve as a way to test Japan, should China contemplate invading Taiwan.

On Feb. 2, Japan’s Minister for Foreign Affairs Yoko Kamikawa said that Japan would consider removing or dismantling the large buoys placed by the Chinese regime in Japan’s Exclusive Economic Zone (EEZ) in the East China Sea.

Ms. Kamikawa said that since China has not responded to Japan’s request for the buoys to be removed, the Japanese government will remove or dismantle them and may also consider placing Japan’s buoys in the same waters. In the future, the Japanese government will collaborate with relevant ministries and agencies to explore feasible and effective measures to address the impacts of the buoys on Japan’s ship traffic and fishing activities.

The Committee on Foreign Affairs of Japan’s ruling Liberal Democratic Party (LDP) held a meeting on Feb. 1 to discuss the issue. The Senkaku Islands is a disputed area claimed by China but currently controlled by Japan. The LDP reiterated its demand that the Chinese side remove the buoys immediately.

After the meeting, Hisayuki Fujii, the director of the Committee on Foreign Affairs, told reporters that the Japanese government will seek understanding from the international community, including the Group of Seven (G7) countries, and will consider removing the buoys on its own.

Chinese Regime’s Aggression

In July of last year, a Chinese vessel set up an oceanographic buoy in Japan’s EEZ, about 50 miles northwest of the Senkaku Islands. Japanese Prime Minister Fumio Kishida requested that Chinese leader Xi Jinping remove it during a meeting at the APEC summit in California in November of last year, but Xi did not respond.

It is believed that one of the purposes of the Chinese buoys in the EEZ is for military intelligence. Furthermore, in addition to meteorological observations, the maritime data collected may also serve military purposes.

The Chinese regime has also set up buoys in neighboring South Korean waters, which are also thought to be collecting military-related data, putting South Korea on alert.

Yoichi Shimada, a professor at Fukui Prefectural University in Japan, said: “Whether the buoys are new or from last year, they should all be removed immediately.

“Kishida’s government, which said there are no clear rules in [Japan’s] maritime law, is taking a passive stance on the removal of the buoys, which has allowed China to take advantage of the situation. [However], both the Japanese ruling party and the opposition party demanded its dismantling.”

Li Yuanhua, a former professor at China’s Capital Normal University, told The Epoch Times: “By placing the buoys in the waters of the [Senkaku] Islands, which are the subject of a dispute between China and Japan, the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) is actually testing Japan’s bottom line.

“Through this move, [China] wants to see how Japan will react.”

Since the beginning of this year, China Coast Guard vessels have begun to issue warnings to Japan’s Self-Defense Forces aircraft flying in Japanese territorial airspace around the Senkaku Islands, claiming that they are “infringing on China’s territorial airspace” and requesting them to leave.

These incidents have occurred frequently, potentially indicating a new mission for the China Coast Guard. In November of last year, Xi Jinping made a speech during an inspection of the China Coast Guard’s command center in the East China Sea, suggesting that their recent actions may have been directly ordered by Xi.

The Japanese government countered through diplomatic channels, calling the so-called “warnings” from China “categorically unacceptable”.

In international waters close to Japan, confrontations between Japanese Maritime Self-Defense Force ships and Chinese navy ships also occur on occasion.

Testing Japan

Japan considers the Senkaku Islands to be Japanese territory, both in terms of international law and Japan’s actual control of the islands. The Chinese regime did not lay any claims to the Senkaku Islands until 1971, shortly after the discovery of possible oil reserves in the region. In fact, in 1953, an anti-American propaganda article published by China’s official state media, People’s Daily, listed the Senkaku Islands as a part of Japan.

According to Mr. Li, the CCP now seeks to use the Senkaku Islands issue to stir up ultranationalist sentiments to divert attention from China’s domestic crisis.

He said the “CCP leader has never changed his mind on the idea of reunification with Taiwan by [military] force. However, an attack on Taiwan is bound to be countered by the United States, Japan, and other Western countries. Therefore, he wants to test Japan’s reaction [to China’s aggression] before making any moves [on Taiwan].”

Growing Concerns Over Taiwan

The popular late Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe once said, “A Taiwan emergency is a Japanese emergency, and therefore an emergency for the Japan-U.S. alliance. People in Beijing, Xi Jinping in particular, should never have a misunderstanding in recognizing this.”

His successor has been adhering to this diplomatic approach. To deter the Chinese regime from escalating tensions in the Taiwan Strait, the United States has been providing extensive support to Japan in matters of defense. Confronted with China’s persistent provocations against the Philippines and the looming threat of a military invasion of Taiwan, the United States and Japan conducted a joint military exercise in the waters east of Taiwan, within Philippine territory, from Jan. 29 to Feb. 1.

Collin Koh, research fellow at the S. Rajaratnam School of International Studies in Singapore, said, “This was seen as a demonstration of U.S. commitment to its strategic focus on the region despite what happens in the Mideast.”

Two U.S. aircraft carriers and more than a dozen warships from both sides participated in the exercise, demonstrating the military strength of the United States and Japan.

“The U.S. and Japan are uniquely capable of rapidly assembling multiple large-deck naval forces in support of mutual security interests in the Indo-Pacific,” Rear Adm. Carlos Sardiello, commander of the USS Carl Vinson-led Carrier Strike Group 1, said.

The warships conducted “defense drills, sea surveillance, cross-deck exercises, and tactical maneuvers to advance unique high-end warfighting capability,” according to the U.S. Navy statement.

For the first time, the exercise explicitly identified China as a hypothetical enemy. The exercise used computer simulations and centers on “a Taiwan emergency.”

As the risk of a Chinese invasion of Taiwan grows, using China as a hypothetical enemy in this military exercise highlights the heightened sense of crisis and constraints on the United States and Japan.

It is reported that the United States and Japan have formulated several joint war plans. Among them, a plan for a response to a Taiwan invasion was completed at the end of last year.