Kyodo News/Reuters
This photo, taken in September 2012, shows the disputed islands of Diaoyu Island (top), Senkaku Island (bottom) and Uotsuri Island (top), known as the Senkaku Islands in Japan and the Diaoyu Islands in China, in the East China Sea.
Seoul, South Korea
CNN
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China Coast Guard vessels have been sailing in waters around Japanese-controlled islands in the East China Sea for 158 consecutive days, surpassing the previous record set in 2021, according to the latest statistics released by Tokyo on Monday.
Analysts worry that the uninhabited islands, known as the Senkakus in Japan and the Diaoyus in China, could become a flashpoint between the two Asian neighbours.
“The government takes seriously the recent spate of vessels passing through the contiguous zone and invading our territorial waters,” Chief Cabinet Secretary Yoshimasa Hayashi said at a news conference in Tokyo on Monday.
Japan’s chief government spokesman said foreign ships were allowed “innocent passage” through Japan’s territorial waters, but declined to say how often Chinese ships had entered those waters.
The contiguous zone extends beyond a country’s territorial waters (the area extending 12 nautical miles from the coast) for a further 12 nautical miles.
While the China Coast Guard is not violating any international agreements as foreign warships are permitted to enter the contiguous zone, the continued presence of Chinese vessels in the zone is considered a provocative act.
Lin said Japanese Prime Minister Fumio Kishida conveyed his “serious concerns” to Chinese Premier Li Gongmin during a trilateral summit with South Korea in Seoul on Monday.
“We will continue to be vigilant and take all precautions and conduct surveillance around the Senkaku Islands,” he said.
The uninhabited archipelago has long been a thorn in Japan-China relations.
Claims to the reef, 1,200 miles (1,900 km) southwest of Tokyo but only about 205 miles (330 km) from China’s east coast, go back centuries and neither Japan nor China is likely to make concessions over territory that is considered the national birthright of their respective capitals.
Tensions rose in 2012 when Tokyo purchased some of the islands from a private Japanese owner, which China saw as a direct challenge to its sovereign claims.
China frequently sends coast guard and other government vessels to the waters around the islands to assert its claims.
“China’s patrols and law enforcement missions off the coast of the Diaoyu Islands are legitimate measures taken by China to exercise its sovereignty in accordance with the law and are a necessary response to Japan’s provocations which infringe on China’s sovereignty,” a 2022 Chinese Foreign Ministry document said.
“No country or force should misunderstand the Chinese government’s strong determination to safeguard its sovereignty and territorial integrity,” the statement said.
Experts say that by issuing the statement and keeping government vessels near the islands, China is preparing the legal basis to claim sovereignty over the islands.
“To assert its international legal claim to the islands over Japan, China would need to deploy its naval vessels in the waters around the islands on a larger scale and more persistently,” James Brown, an associate professor of political science at Temple University in Tokyo, told CNN in 2022.
Japanese government spokesman Hayashi said on Monday that Japan was countering China’s presence around the Senkaku islands with its own vessels.
“By always dispatching patrol vessels of the Japan Coast Guard, which have superior capabilities to those of the opposing country, we are ensuring a comprehensive security system in our territorial waters,” Hayashi said.
Analysts say that because of Japan’s mutual defense treaty with the United States, any incident between Japan and China in the Senkaku Islands would increase the risk of a broader conflict.
Washington has made clear on multiple occasions that it considers the Senkaku Islands to be covered by a mutual defense treaty.
China’s expanding presence around the Senkaku Islands comes as the Chinese military strengthens its presence in two other disputed zones in East Asia: around Taiwan and near Philippine-controlled waters in the South China Sea.
China carried out its largest military drills this year around Taiwan last week following the inauguration of Taiwan’s democratically elected new leader, President Lai Ching-te, who is openly disliked by Beijing for defending Taiwan’s sovereignty and separate identity.
The Chinese Communist Party claims Taiwan as part of its territory despite never having controlled it and has vowed to seize it by force if necessary.
Also in the South China Sea, the China Coast Guard took measures, including using water cannons, against a Philippine ship attempting to resupply a Philippine Marine Corps contingent at Second Thomas Shoal, injuring a Philippine crew member and damaging the ship.
The moves come as leaders and military officials prepare to gather in Singapore for the Shangri-La Dialogue, Asia’s largest defense summit.
Philippine President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. is due to deliver a keynote address on Friday evening, with the clash between China and the Philippines around Second Thomas Reef expected to be a key topic on the agenda.
Top defense officials from the United States and China are also scheduled to speak at the conference.
CNN’s Himali Semans contributed to this report.
