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Senkaku Islands News

14 Jul 2023

China Drives Japanese Fishing Ship from Contested Islands

© vadimmmus / Adobe Stock

Chinese coast guard authorities said it took "necessary control measures" and drove away a Japanese fishing vessel that had entered "territorial waters" around Senkaku Islands, state media reported."We urge the Japanese side to immediately cease all illegal activities in the waters and ensure that similar incidents do not recur," China Marine Police spokesperson Gan Yu said, according to the report late Thursday.China calls the islands Diaoyu while Japan calls them Senkaku.

06 May 2020

US Rearms to Nullify China's Missile Supremacy

File photo: A Tomahawk Land Attack Missile (TLAM) is launched from the guided missile cruiser USS Cape St. George in the eastern Mediterranean Sea March 23, 2003. (U.S. Navy photo by Kenneth Moll)

As Washington and Beijing trade barbs over the coronavirus pandemic, a longer-term struggle between the two Pacific powers is at a turning point, as the United States rolls out new weapons and strategy in a bid to close a wide missile gap with China.The United States has largely stood by in recent decades as China dramatically expanded its military firepower. Now, having shed the constraints of a Cold War-era arms control treaty, the Trump administration is planning to deploy long-range…

05 Dec 2018

Interview: Shuichi Iwanami, Commandant, Japan Coast Guard

Shuichi Iwanami, Commandant, Japan Coast Guard. Photo: JCG

As the Japan Coast Guard celebrates its 70th anniversary, Maritime Reporter & Engineering News offers insights on the current status and future direction of the JCG courtesy of an interview with Shuichi Iwanami, Commandant, Japan Coast Guard.*Note: At the time this interview was conducted, Shuichi Iwanami was still Vice Commandant for Operations.Could you please tell us the history and future development of the Japan Coast Guard (JCG)?The JCG, in 2018 celebrates the 70th anniversary of its foundation. When it was founded, the Japanese waters were in an eclipse period.

02 Aug 2016

Japan Slams China Over Maritime Issues

Japan has accused China of being assertive over maritime issues, taking actions that effectively amount to a "fait accompli", reports Strait Times. In its 484-page annual defence white paper on Tuesday (Aug 2), the defence ministry said the aggressive actions by China could "cause unintended consequences", referring to past incidents including one where a China naval frigate entered Japan's contiguous zone this year, near a crop of islets in the East China Sea that has been claimed by both countries. The report called China’s reclamation moves in the South China Sea a provocation, and urged Beijing to accept a recent international arbitration ruling. It said China’s escalating activity in the East China Sea caused Japan to scramble against Chinese warplanes more than 570 times last year.

15 Jun 2016

Chinese Spy Ship Enters Japanese Territorial Waters

A Chinese military ship entered the waters of south-western Japan on Wednesday, EFE news reported quoting government officials. This is the first such incident in over a decade and comes a week after a Chinese navy ship sailed near the disputed Senkaku islands. Ap reported Deputy Chief Cabinet Secretary Hiroshige Seko as saying that a Maritime Self-Defense Force plane spotted the ship in Japanese waters west of Kuchinoerabu island in southern Japan before dawn. The ship sailed out of Japan's waters about 90 minutes later. “The government will continue to take all possible measures for warning and surveillance activity for our territorial waters and airspace,” Seko said.

13 Jun 2016

Indo-US-Japan Naval Exercise Irks China

The joint military drill by Japan, the US and India being held near the waters of the East China Sea will create more frictions in the disputed area, warns China. The first phase of the drill kicked off on Friday in Japan’s southwestern city of Sasebo, with the second stage due to start on June 14 off the Okinawa Island, Press TV said. The tri-country began their marine war games, Malabar Exercise, near Okinawa Island - about 400 kilometres from the contested Senkaku Islands - hunting for Chinese submarines, ships, recreating scenario of countering a hostile Chinese People' Liberation Army (Navy). Lying around 220 km (137 miles) west of Taiwan are a group of uninhabited isles, known as the Senkaku in Japan and the Diaoyu in China, which are controlled by Tokyo and claimed by Beijing.

09 Jun 2016

Chinese Navy Ship Irks Japan

Japan has lodged a protest with the Chinese ambassador in Tokyo, after a Chinese ship sailed close to contested islands in the East China Sea. Chinese navy has made an unprecedented entry into waters around the disputed Senkaku Islands, called Diaoyu in China. Japanese Vice Foreign Minister Akitaka Saiki responded swiftly, summoning the Chinese ambassador to Tokyo Cheng Yonghua to register a formal protest. Japan's top government spokesman expressed "serious concern" about the entry of a Chinese naval ship, saying it would escalate tension unilaterally. Prime Minister Shinzo Abe told his government to closely coordinate with the United States and other countries to deal with the incident.

28 Mar 2016

China Angered by Japan's New Radar Station

Japan on Monday switched on a radar station in the East China Sea, giving it a permanent intelligence gathering post close to Taiwan and a group of islands disputed by Japan and China, drawing an angry response from Beijing. The new Self Defence Force base on the island of Yonaguni 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 has raised concerns with its neighbours and in the West with its assertive claim to most of the South China Sea where the Philippines, Vietnam, Malaysia, Taiwan and Brunei have overlapping claims. Japan has long been mired in a territorial dispute with China over the East China Sea islands.

15 Mar 2016

Japan Coast Guard: Maritime Security Tops Agenda

VADM Satoshi NAKAJIMA, Vice Commandant for Operations, Japan Coast Guard (Photo: Japan Coast Guard)

Maritime Reporter & Engineering News interviews VADM Satoshi NAKAJIMA, Vice Commandant for Operations, Japan Coast Guard, in its March 2016 edition. Please discuss the history of the Japan Coast Guard. Immediately after the end of World War II, maritime security and the safety of ship operations were both deteriorated significantly in waters around Japan. Crime became widespread, while marine navigational aids and other establishments were destroyed. Many sea mines, which threatened ship operations, were planted.

23 Jan 2016

Japan Warns against China's Maritime Activities

Japanese Foreign Minister Fumio Kishida warned against China's increasing maritime activities, such as artificial land construction in the South China Sea, reports Nikkei. Referring to tensions over China's growing assertiveness in the South China Sea, Fumio said that Japan will step up efforts to ensure the rule of law for "open and stable seas." He pledged to work for a further improvement of ties with Beijing. "A number of countries have expressed grave concerns about unilateral actions that change the status quo and escalate tensions," Kishida said in a foreign policy address. "Any unilateral attempts, such as land reclamation, to create an accomplished fact cannot be accepted," Kishida said.

28 Apr 2015

U.S. Renews Security Pledge to Japan

U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry told Japanese leaders on Monday that Washington's treaty commitments to Japan's security remain "iron-clad" and cover all territories under Tokyo's administration, including tiny islands in the East China Sea that China also claims. Kerry renewed the security pledge related to the islets, known as the Senkakus in Japan and the Diaoyus in China, at a New York news conference with Japan's foreign and defense ministers to unveil updated U.S.-Japan defense guidelines on the eve of Prime Minister Shinzo Abe's talks with President Barack Obama. "It's an historic transition in the defense relationship between our two countries," Kerry said.

16 Apr 2015

G-7 Speaks Out On Chinese Maritime

Meeting of G7 Foreign Ministers in Luebeck, Germany. Picture Courtesy: TACC, Government of Russia

Foreign ministers from the Group of Seven major nations have warned against “any attempt to assert territorial or maritime claims through the use of intimidation, coercion or force” — a message apparently aimed at China. It is for the first time that G7 has adopted a document focusing on maritime security, giving member Japan new backing in its bid to step up pressure on China over territorial issues. The G-7 statement comes as China is carrying out reclamation work on disputed…

26 Feb 2015

Japan Plans Naval Exercises with Philippines

Admiral Tomoshisa Takei, chief of staff of Japan Maritime Self-Defense Force (JMSDF) is holding high-level talks with the Armed Forces of the Philippines (AFP) concerning the mounting maritime tension in the West Philippine Sea and other security concerns within the Asia-Pacific region. He discussed concerns on maritime domain awareness and challenges” in the South China Sea with the Armed Forces of the Philippines deputy chief-of-staff Lt. Gen. Virgilio Doming. The two senior officers discussed concerns on maritime domain awareness and other challenges in the West Philippine Sea. They also expressed mutual interests in conducting bilateral naval exercises and disaster response operations in the future.

20 Feb 2015

Japan, China to Resume Maritime Talks

Japan and China plan to resume security talks with focus on maritime issues as early as April after a four-year hiatus amid simmering tensions over territorial disputes, AFP reports. A meeting planned for Tokyo, which would be the first since January 2011 in Beijing, involving top officials from each country’s foreign and defence ministries, including Japan’s Deputy Foreign Minister Shinsuke Sugiyama. The talks will likely focus on fostering mutual trust on maritime security, given the continuing tensions over the Japanese-controlled Senkaku Islands in the East China Sea. Tokyo and Beijing are at loggerheads over the sovereignty of uninhabited islands in the East China Sea, which Japan administers as the Senkakus, but which China claims as the Diaoyus.

19 Jan 2015

China in Mind, Japan Seeks Maritime Ties with India

apan has pitched for stronger maritime security cooperation with India, to counter an increasingly powerful China. During his visit in India on Saturday Japan's foreign minister Fumio Kishida said that both nations should "proactively" assume responsibilities to ensure "open and stable seas" in the region. His comments are seen as an effort to contain China's growing assertiveness in South China Sea. Kishida said India and Japan have huge interests in the region extending from the Indian Ocean through the South China Sea to the Pacific and both the countries should work jointly under their "special partnership" to ensure maritime security. Under the bridge of open and stable seas, Kishida said India and Japan were maritime countries whose "interests depends on the safety of sea lanes".

06 Jan 2015

Japan, China to Resume Maritime Crisis Management Talks

Japan and China have agreed to resume talks as early as next week to launch a maritime crisis management mechanism in 2015, say Japanese government sources. The proposed “maritime liaison mechanism” is aimed at easing tensions stemming from the sovereignty dispute over the Japan-controlled Senkaku Islands in the East China Sea. Arrangements are being made for working-level talks. In 2012, Japanese and Chinese defense authorities reached a basic agreement to set up a hotline and use a common radio frequency for their ships and planes when operating near the Senkakus. Accoring to sources, Tokyo sounded out Beijing on resuming the talks by the end of January on setting up a way for their defense authorities to contact each other in an emergency.

05 Mar 2013

China Sends Helicopter Ships to Disputed Islands

Japan's concern over a standoff with China over the disputed Senkaku Islands deepens and might escalate. The Japan Coast Guard and the Defense Ministry are closely monitoring voyages of the Haijian 50, which can be loaded with helicopters reports Asahi Shimbun. The vessel, belonging to the China Marine Surveillance, an agency of the government’s State Oceanic Administration, sailed in the contiguous zone next to Japanese territorial waters surrounding the islands on 10 days in February. Of these voyages, it encroached into territorial waters on four days. The Japanese side was most alarmed on Feb. 18, when the hanger doors opened on the Haijian 50 while the ship was approaching an area about 1 kilometer to the southeast of the Uotsurishima islet…