Japan protested to China after Chinese maritime police ships entered the Senkaku Islands (known as Diaoyu Islands in China) two days in a row. Japan and China have a sovereignty dispute over the uninhabited island.
China’s Maritime Police Law took effect on February 1. The Marine Police Law authorizes the Chinese Marine Police to use force against vessels that enter the waters under Chinese jurisdiction and illegally engage in production operations after warnings are ineffective. The promulgation and implementation of the Marine Police Law has led to increased tensions between Japan and China over the disputed islands.
Japanese Prime Minister Yoshihide Suga told a meeting of the House of Representatives Budget Committee on Monday (Feb. 8) that he could not accept China’s use of the Marine Police Law to increase tensions in the East China Sea and South China Sea, Kyodo News reported.
Japanese Chief Cabinet Secretary Kato Katsushin said on Monday (Feb. 8) that after Chinese maritime police vessels entered the waters near the Senkaku Islands for two consecutive days on Saturday (Feb. 6) and Sunday, “we strongly protested through diplomatic channels in Tokyo and Beijing and strongly requested them to immediately stop their attempts to approach Japanese fishing vessels and leave the territorial waters quickly. “
Observers noted that the action of two Chinese maritime police vessels on Feb. 6 was the first Time they entered the waters of Japan’s Senkaku Islands to “test the waters” after the maritime police law came into effect.
Katsushin Kato said The Japanese Coast Guard vessels “repeatedly asked them to leave while ensuring the safety of the fishing boats. Kato added that “Japan can never tolerate” such behavior.
Chinese maritime police vessels regularly sail near disputed islands in the South and East China Seas, where Chinese leader Xi Jinping wants China to become a maritime power. Last year, Chinese ships were confirmed to have sailed in the contiguous zone of the Senkaku Islands for a total of 333 days, a record high.
For its part, Beijing claims sovereignty over almost the entire South China Sea, in addition to territorial and territorial sea disputes with Japan. Brunei, Malaysia, the Philippines, Taiwan and Vietnam also claim sovereignty over parts of the South China Sea.
The South China Sea Arbitral Tribunal, appointed by the International Tribunal for the Law of the Sea, issued a ruling on July 12, 2016, denying China’s long-held historical rights to the waters and islands in the South China Sea within the “nine-dashed line. The ruling concluded that China’s “nine-dashed line” claim exceeds its maritime rights allowed under the United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea and therefore has no legal effect.
At a regular press conference of the Chinese Foreign Ministry on Monday, a Kyodo News reporter asked what China had to say about the Japanese government’s protest to the Chinese side over the Chinese maritime police ships sailing into Japanese territorial waters for two consecutive days. Spokesman Wang Wenbin replied, “The Diaoyu Islands and its surrounding islands are China’s inherent territory” and the Chinese maritime police ships sailing in those waters are “a legitimate move by China to safeguard its sovereignty in accordance with the law”.
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