Japan’s defense minister announced in Washington Thursday that the nation is seeking to participate in joint maritime exercises with the United States in the South China Sea, a direct challenge to China’s repeated demands for Japan to stay out of the region.
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“I strongly support the USA freedom of navigation operations in the South China Sea, which go a long way towards a rules-based worldwide maritime order” she said, adding that bending those rules has “consequences that could become global”. The minister announced that Tokyo would join hands with the United States navy for a series of joint “training” patrols and multi-lateral exercises with regional navies.
Inada and Carter urged China to comply with an worldwide arbitration ruling in July that invalidated its claims to nearly the whole of the South China Sea, calling the ruling “final” and “legally binding”, according to the officials. Inada said China has escalated its incursions by its vessels into Japan’s territorial waters around the islands.
Previously, at the 5th round of the high-level Consultation on Maritime Affairs in Hiroshima, Japan on September 14-15, Japan and China agreed to speed up the negotiation process on the air and maritime contact mechanism between their defence ministries. China is also locked in disputes with Japan and South Korea over the East China Sea.
CHINESE and Russian fleets sailed out of a port in Zhanjiang in south China’s Guangdong Province Thursday to predetermined waters for joint naval drill. The tribunal determined that China had no right to build artificial islands atop reefs and shoals in the Spratly Island chain near the Philippines.
Japan, Vietnam, Malaysia, Brunei, the Philippines and Taiwan are engaged in territorial disputes with China.
“We remain seriously concerned about recent and ongoing developments and took note of the concerns expressed by some ministers on the land reclamations and escalation of activities in the area, which have eroded trust and confidence, increased tensions and may undermine peace, security and stability in the region”, the statement said.
Inada said that if the world condoned attempts to change the rule of law and allowed “rule bending” to succeed, the “consequences could become global”.
China reportedly warned Japan against sending Self-Defense Forces to join USA freedom of navigation exercises in the South China Sea earlier this year, calling it a “red line”.
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Japan’s defense minister says its forces will increase engagement in the South China Sea through training cruises with the U.S. Navy and multilateral exercises with regional navies.
