Japan formally protested to China over the weekend, accusing Beijing of installing radar on an offshore gas platform in the East China Sea and of sending fishing and coast-guard vessels into waters around disputed islands there.
Advertisement
The move by Fumio Kishida comes as the number of Chinese coast guard ships around the islands has almost quadrupled over the past few days to as many as 13, a record number since China started sending ships to the region in September 2012 after Japan nationalized the islands’ ownership.
‘They are far thicker than you would build for any civilian objective, ‘ Gregory Poling, director of CSIS’s Asia Maritime Transparency Initiative, told the New York Times, which first reported on the new images.
Australia should “carefully talk and cautiously behave” on the sensitive matter of the South China Sea, he said at a press briefing two weeks ago.
Mr Cheng said after the meeting that he told Mr Kishida the islands were an integral part of China’s territory and that the dispute should be resolved through diplomacy and dialogue.
Philippine-Chinese ties have frayed in recent years due to growing tensions over Beijing’s claims to nearly all the South China Sea. Taiwan, the Philippines, Vietnam, Malaysia and Brunei have overlapping claims.
Evidence of the military hangars emerged a month after an worldwide tribunal in The Hague ruled that China’s claims over the disputed South China Sea – based on nine-dash-line – were invalid, including its assertion of expansive sovereignty and construction of artificial islands.
“I told him.it is natural that Chinese ships conduct activity in the waters”, Cheng told reporters.
“I think it’s a mistake to take them individually and not look at them as a collective”.
China has repeatedly denied doing so and has in turn criticized US patrols and exercises for ramping up tensions.
China claims sovereignty over nearly all of SCS based on historic rights, including reefs and rocks in the sea as well as hundreds of miles from Chinese shores.
“The Air Force is organizing normalized South China Sea combat patrols, practicing tactics. increasing response capabilities to all kinds of security threats and safeguarding national sovereignty, security and maritime interests”, Shen said. Despite this, the number of Chinese government vessels spotted within the contiguous zone increased – three on Friday, seven on Saturday and 13 on Sunday.
The report said that an unprecedented 230 Chinese fishing vessels and seven coast guard ships, four apparently armed, sailed into waters close to the disputed island on Sunday.
Former Philippine leader Fidel Ramos said yesterday he would meet contacts with links to Chinese President Xi Jinping during a trip to Hong Kong meant to improve ties between Manila and Beijing.
Advertisement
China has installed a radar with potential military functions in a disputed area of the East China Sea, Japanese media said Sunday, in the latest flare-up of tensions between the two countries.
