Japan said on Monday it would respond firmly after Chinese government vessels had intruded into what Tokyo considers its territorial waters near disputed islands in the East China Sea 14 times at the weekend, stoking bilateral tensions. Chief Cabinet Secretary Yoshihide Suga said Tokyo would continue to urge China not to escalate the East China Sea dispute, while also responding firmly and calmly. Suga told a news conference that a total of 14 Chinese government vessels had entered "contiguous waters", which can be policed for customs and immigration violations, in recent days and intruded into what Japan considers its territorial waters 14 times. Twelve Chinese vessels remained in the area early on Monday, he said. Agencies including the Coast Guard would act together closely to deal with the situation, Suga said. Chinese activity near the islands, known as the Senkaku in Japan and the Diaoyu in China, has heated up since Friday, prompting repeated Japanese protests, including … [Read more...] about Japan urges China not to escalate East China Sea tension
East china sea
China says Japan base shows its hypocrisy on South China Sea World
China's Defence Ministry accused Japan on Thursday of hypocrisy by opening a new base close to Taiwan and a group of islands disputed between Japan and China in the East China Sea at the same time as criticizing China's actions in the South China Sea. Japan this week switched on a radar station on Yonaguni, giving it a permanent intelligence gathering post in a strategic location. The new Self Defence Force base on the island is at the western extreme of a string of Japanese islands in the East China Sea, 150 km (90 miles) south of the disputed islands known as the Senkaku islands in Japan and the Diaoyu in China. China's Defence Ministry, which has already expressed anger at the move, said Japan's armed forces had been "very active" of late, and Japan had also been decrying China's "so-called militarization" in the South China Sea. "Today we can see what Japan is really up to on Yonaguni island, which is only 100 km from China's Taiwan and the Diaoyu Islands," ministry spokesman Yang … [Read more...] about China says Japan base shows its hypocrisy on South China Sea World
South China Sea ruling will ‘intensify conflict’: Chinese envoy
An international tribunal's ruling denying China's claims in the South China Sea (Vietnam's East Sea) will "intensify conflict and even confrontation," Beijing's ambassador to the United States said on Tuesday. The ambassador, Cui Tiankai, also told an international forum in Washington that Beijing remains committed to negotiations with other parties in disputes over the vital trade route. In a case that was seen as a test of China's rising power and its economic and strategic rivalry with the United States, the Permanent Court of Arbitration in The Hague ruled China had breached the Philippines' sovereign rights by endangering its ships and fishing and oil projects in the energy-rich region. The Chinese diplomat blamed the rise in tension in the region on the United States' "pivot" toward Asia in the past few years. Cui said the arbitration case "will probably open the door of abusing arbitration procedures. "It will certainly undermine and weaken the motivation of states to … [Read more...] about South China Sea ruling will ‘intensify conflict’: Chinese envoy
‘Give them a bloody nose’: Xi pressed for stronger South China Sea response
China's leadership is resisting pressure from elements within the military for a more forceful response to an international court ruling against Beijing's claims in the South China Sea (Vietnam's East Sea), sources said, wary of provoking a clash with the United States. China refused to participate in the case overseen by the Permanent Court of Arbitration in The Hague. It denounced the emphatic July 12 ruling in favor of the Philippines as a farce that had no legal basis and part of an anti-China plot cooked up in Washington. The ruling has been followed in China by a wave of nationalist sentiment, scattered protests and strongly worded editorials in state media. So far, Beijing has not shown any sign of wanting to take stronger action. Instead, it has called for a peaceful resolution through talks at the same time as promising to defend Chinese territory. But some elements within China's increasingly confident military are pushing for a stronger - potentially armed - response … [Read more...] about ‘Give them a bloody nose’: Xi pressed for stronger South China Sea response
British fighters to overfly South China Sea; carriers in Pacific after 2020-envoy
British fighter planes visiting Japan will fly over the South China Sea and Britain will sail aircraft carriers in the Pacific once they are operational in 2020, given concerns about freedom of navigation there, Britain's ambassador to the United States said on Thursday. The envoy, Kim Darroch, told a Washington think tank that British Typhoon aircraft currently deployed on a visit to Japan would fly across disputed parts of the South China Sea to assert international overflight rights, but gave no time frame. Speaking at an event also attended by Japan's ambassador to Washington, Darroch said that most future British defense capacity would have to be directed toward the Middle East, but added: "Certainly, as we bring our two new aircraft carriers onstream in 2020, and as we renew and update our defense forces, they will be seen in the Pacific. "And we absolutely share the objective of this U.S. administration, and the next one, to protect freedom of navigation and to keep sea … [Read more...] about British fighters to overfly South China Sea; carriers in Pacific after 2020-envoy
China, Russia naval drill in S.China Sea to begin Monday
The exercises in the South China Sea (Vietnam's East Sea) off southern China's Guangdong province starting from Monday come at a time of heightened tension in the contested waters after an arbitration court in The Hague ruled in July that China did not have historic rights to the South China Sea (Vietnam's East Sea) and criticized its environmental destruction there. China rejected the ruling and refused to participate in the case. The "Joint Sea-2016" exercise will feature surface ships, submarines, fixed-wing aircraft, ship-borne helicopters and marines, the Chinese navy said in a statement on Sunday on its official microblog. The two countries will carry out defence, rescue and anti-submarine operations, as well as "island seizing" and other activities, it added. Marines will participate in live-fire drills, island defence and landing operations in what will be the largest operation ever taken together by the two countries' navies, the statement said. China announced that it … [Read more...] about China, Russia naval drill in S.China Sea to begin Monday
China says Japan trying to ‘confuse’ South China Sea situation
China on Monday accused Japan of trying to "confuse" the situation in the South China Sea, which Vietnam calls the East Sea, after its neighbor said it would step up activity in the contested waters, through joint training patrols with the United States. Ties between Asia's two largest economies have long been overshadowed by arguments over their painful wartime history and a territorial spat in the East China Sea, among other issues. China has repeatedly denounced what it views as interference by the United States and its ally Japan in the South China Sea. Japan will also help build the capacity of coastal states in the busy waterway, its defense minister said last week during a visit to Washington. Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesman Lu Kang said countries in the region had reached a consensus that the South China Sea issue should be resolved through talks between the parties directly involved, and that China and Southeast Asian countries should jointly maintain peace and … [Read more...] about China says Japan trying to ‘confuse’ South China Sea situation
U.S. would welcome Japan air patrols in South China Sea World
The United States would welcome a move by Japan to extend air patrols into the South China Sea as a counterweight to a growing fleet of Chinese vessels pushing Beijing's territorial claims in the region, a senior U.S. Navy officer told Reuters. Currently, regular patrols by Japanese aircraft only reach into the East China Sea, where Tokyo is at loggerheads with Beijing over disputed islands. Extending surveillance flights into the South China Sea will almost certainly increase tensions between the world's second- and third-largest economies. "I think allies, partners and friends in the region will look to the Japanese more and more as a stabilizing function," Admiral Robert Thomas, commander of the Seventh Fleet and the top U.S. navy officer in Asia, said in an interview. "In the South China Sea, frankly, the Chinese fishing fleet, the Chinese coast guard and the (navy) overmatch their neighbors," Thomas said. China’s foreign ministry said it had no immediate comment on the … [Read more...] about U.S. would welcome Japan air patrols in South China Sea World
Chinese carrier enters South China Sea amid renewed tension
A group of Chinese warships on Monday led by the country's sole aircraft carrier entered the top half of the South China Sea, which Vietnam calls the East Sea. The carrier group has passed south of Taiwan, the island's Defence Ministry said of what China has termed a routine exercise. The move comes amid renewed tension over Taiwan, which Beijing claims as its own, ineligible for state-to-state relations, following U.S. President-elect Donald Trump's telephone call with the island's president that upset Beijing. The Soviet-built Liaoning aircraft carrier has taken part in previous exercises, including some in the South China Sea, but China is years away from perfecting carrier operations similar to those the United States has practised for decades. Taiwan's Defence Ministry said the carrier, accompanied by five vessels, passed southeast of the Pratas Islands, which are controlled by Taiwan, heading southwest. The carrier group earlier passed 90 nautical miles south of Taiwan's … [Read more...] about Chinese carrier enters South China Sea amid renewed tension
Japan plans to send largest warship to East Vietnam Sea, sources say
TOKYO – Japan plans to dispatch its largest warship on a three-month tour through the East Vietnam Sea beginning in May, three sources said, in its biggest show of naval force in the region since World War Two. China claims almost all the disputed waters and its growing military presence has fueled concern in Japan and the West, with the United States holding regular air and naval patrols to ensure freedom of navigation. The Izumo helicopter carrier, commissioned only two years ago, will make stops in Singapore, Indonesia, the Philippines and Sri Lanka before joining the Malabar joint naval exercise with Indian and U.S. naval vessels in the Indian Ocean in July. It will return to Japan in August, the sources said. "The aim is to test the capability of the Izumo by sending it out on an extended mission," said one of the sources who have knowledge of the plan. "It will train with the U.S. Navy in the [East Vietnam Sea]," he added, asking not to be identified because he is not … [Read more...] about Japan plans to send largest warship to East Vietnam Sea, sources say