Chinese Navy Intrudes into Japanese Territorial Waters: Japan Strongly Protests – Deutsche Welle

09.06.2023

Japanese media pointed out that this is the eleventh time in the past two years that a Chinese warship has broken into Japanese waters. On the same day, two Chinese Coast Guard ships also entered the disputed territorial waters between the two countries. Japan’s defense ministry said it had expressed “serious concerns” to Beijing.

(Deutsche Welle Chinese website) The Ministry of Defense of Japan announced on Thursday (June 8) that a Chinese naval survey ship entered Japanese territorial waters on the same day. The Japanese side has expressed “serious concern” to China and lodged a protest.accuses Beijing of routine military activity in Japanese waters。

According to the Japanese side, at about 7:30 am that day, the Japanese Maritime Self-Defense Force found a Chinese naval survey ship sailing westward along the contiguous area outside the territorial sea in the southeast of Yakushima in Kagoshima Prefecture, and entered the west of Yakushima at about 10 am. In the southern waters, after sailing for about 3 hours, it sailed towards the East China Sea at about 1 pm.

Japan’s Jiji News Agency pointed out that this is the eleventh time since November 2021 that a Chinese warship has broken into Japanese waters. These survey ships are often used for research purposes, such as determining underwater topography for submarine navigation.

On the same day, Japanese Chief Cabinet Secretary Hiroichi Matsuno also told Reuters that two other Chinese Coast Guard ships also entered Japanese territorial waters near the Senkaku Islands, which China calls the Diaoyu Islands, and tried to approach a Japanese fishing boat.

Japan’s Kyodo News stated,Disputes over the sovereignty of these islandsIt is the root cause of ongoing tension in Japan-China relations.

In early June, during the Shangri-La Dialogue Security Summit in Singapore, Chinese Defense Minister Li Shangfu told Japanese Defense Minister Yasuichi Hamada that Sino-Japanese relations were not all about the Diaoyu Islands issue. “Both sides should look at this issue from a long-term and big-picture perspective,” he said, adding that he hoped Japan would work closely with China to “avoid any friction or collision.”

Yasuichi Hamada expressed “deep concern” about the situation in the East China Sea at the time.accuses Chinese ships of passing through the waters near the Japanese-administered Senkaku Islands on an almost daily basis. He said, “The two countries should, through frank discussions between defense officials on both sidesand strive to establish a constructive and stable relationship.” Only on the basis of mutual trust between the two parties can misunderstandings and misinformation be avoided.

Before the latest maritime dispute on the 8th, Nikkei Asia reported that, according to the data published on the website of the Japan Coast Guard, the Japanese side has not found any Chinese ships entering since May 30th, which seems to reflect China’s attempt to Express kindness to successfully meet Yasuichi Hamada during the Shangri-La meeting.

(Kyodo, Jiji, Reuters, Nikkei Asia)

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