Japan on Sunday joined the
United States in criticising China's new fishing restrictions in the
South China Sea, saying the curbs, coupled with the launch last year of
an air defence zone, has left the international community jittery.
Defence Minister Itsunori Onodera made the comment after observing the
Japanese Self-Defence Forces' elite airborne brigade conducting airdrop
drills designed to hone their skills to defend and retake remote
islands.
Earlier on Sunday,
Chinese government ships briefly entered what Japan considers its
territorial waters near a group of disputed East China Sea islets, in
the first such action this year.
"Setting something like this unilaterally as if you are treating your
own territorial waters, and imposing certain restrictions on fishing
boats is not something that is internationally tolerated," Onodera told
reporters.
"I'm afraid not
only Japan but the international society as a whole has a concern that
China is unilaterally threatening the existing international order" with
its new restrictions in the South China Sea and the creation of an air
defence identification zone, he said.
The fishing rules,
approved by China's southern Hainan province, took effect on January 1
and require foreign fishing vessels to obtain approval to enter disputed
waters in the South China Sea, which the local government says are
under its jurisdiction.
Washington called the fishing rules "provocative and potentially
dangerous", prompting a rebuttal from China's foreign ministry on
Friday.
Ties between China
and Japan, the world's second- and third-largest economies, have been
strained due to a long-running row over ownership of the group of tiny,
uninhabited islands called the Senkaku in Japan and Diaoyu in China.
Tensions soared in recent months after Beijing announced the air
defence identification zone covering a large swathe of the East China
Sea, including the disputed isles, and Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo
Abe visited a controversial Tokyo shrine seen by critics as a symbol of
Japan's wartime aggression.
China and South Korea, where bitter
memories of Japan's past militarism run deep, have repeatedly expressed
anger in the past over Japanese politicians' visits to Yasukuni Shrine,
where Japanese leaders convicted as war criminals by an Allied tribunal
are honoured along with those who died in battle.
Stoking tensions further, three Chinese government ships on Sunday
morning briefly entered what Japan sees as its territorial waters near
the disputed islands, controlled by Japan but also claimed by China, the
latest in such occasional entries by Chinese ships.
"We can never overlook such repeated entries. In addition to diplomatic
efforts, we will cooperate with Coast Guard and securely defend our
territory and territorial waters around the Senkaku," Onodera said.
Patrol ships from China and Japan have been shadowing each other near
the islets on and off for months, raising fears that a confrontation
could develop into a clash.
No comments:
Post a Comment