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By J. Michael Cole
Tensions continued to escalate between Japan and China over disputed
islets in the East China Sea on Thursday, with Japan reportedly sending
two F-15s from Naha, Okinawa, after several Chinese military aircraft
crossed into its Air defense identification zone (ADIZ). China responded
by scrambling two J-10s of its own.
Japan’s Air Self-Defense Force spotted the Chinese aircraft in its
ADIZ over the East China Sea at about 12pm on Thursday, Kyodo quoted a
senior Defense Ministry official as saying, adding that the Chinese
aircraft never entered Japanese airspace. Kyodo said the Chinese
aircraft penetrated Japan’s ADIZ on three occasions.
The official said the Chinese aircraft, which numbered more than 10,
included J-7s and J-10 fighter aircraft, though according to Chinese
media, Japanese reports seem to have mistaken the
J-7, an interceptor, for the JH-7 “Flying Leopard,” a fighter/bomber.
Unconfirmed reports also alleged that some of the planes may have been
early-warning aircraft.
In a press release on
January 11, the Chinese Ministry of Defense said that a Shaanxi Y-8
transport aircraft was conducting a routine patrol over oil and gas
fields east of Wenzhou, Zhejiang Province, and confirmed it had
dispatched two J-10s after the two F-15s from Japan closed in on the
transport plane.
The Chinese aircraft left the area soon thereafter.
In a Friday editorial on the crisis, the Global Times wrote
that “thanks to Japan’s arrogance toward China …China and Japan may
stand at a turning point that leads to confrontation,” adding that the
resentment between the two nations had reached the “highest level since
World War II.”
“A military clash is more likely. We shouldn’t have the illusion that
Japan will be deterred by our firm stance. We need to prepare for the
worst,” it wrote.
Unlike previous incidents,
which involved civilian aircraft, patrol boats or fishing vessels,
Thursday’s events were the first time the two countries dispatched
military aircraft against one another in the East China Sea, a
significant development and one that bodes ill for the future, unless
third-party mediation prevails upon the two sides to stand down.
On Wednesday, the U.S. State Department announced that Assistant
Secretary of State for East Asian and Pacific Affairs Kurt Campbell
will lead a delegation to the region next week, with stops planned for
Seoul and Tokyo. Campbell, joined by Secretary of State Hillary Clinton
and other U.S. officials, met with Chinese Vice Foreign Minister Cui Tiankai at the State Department on Thursday afternoon.
Separately on Thursday, Assistant Secretary Campbell spoke in some
detail about U.S. policy towards the Japan and China row during a speech
at a think tank in Washington, DC.
“We want both countries to recognize that, literally, northeast Asia
is too important to the global economy. We cannot afford to have
continuing tension degrade relations between the two most important
countries in Asia – Japan and China, not only for our security, but our
economic prosperity going forward,”Campbell said, China Daily reported. On the sidelines of the event Campbell reportedly told reporters that his trip next would focus primarily on resolving the Japan-China dispute.
Meanwhile, Chief Cabinet Secretary Yoshihide Suga said on Thursday that Japan would take “all possible surveillance measures” to
protect the Senkaku islands and surrounding waters, in response to
Beijing’s announcement that it would conduct regular patrols in waters
near the Senkakus, which he said was “extremely abnormal.”
On January 9, in an announcement that could be more bluster than policy, the Japanese defense ministry said it was considering authorizing
Air Self-Defense Force (ASDF) aircraft to fire warning shots at Chinese
planes that enter Japanese airspace. Xinhua News Agency editorialized that
such a move was “provocative,” “dangerous” and “irresponsible,” adding
that by adding warning shots, Japan had “slipped further into the wrong
direction.”
A stimulus package unveiled
by Tokyo on January 11th includes 180.5 billion yen ($2.03 billion) of
defense funding for missiles, fighter aircraft and helicopters.
Even before the latest escalation many had been warning that the
Sino-Japan spat was becoming more dangerous and risked spiraling into
conflict. Ian Bremmer, founder and president of the geopolitical
consulting firm Eurasia Group, told CNN this week that,
“The danger of China-Japan conflict in 2013, for me, is the single
biggest geopolitical tension that is underappreciated right now and one
we’re going to have watch very carefully.”
These sentiments were echoed in Eurasia Group’s Top Risks report for 2013.
Meanwhile, in a sign that Tokyo may be resorting to “goodwill” to
widen the distance between China and Taiwan — the third claimant in the
Senkaku dispute — Taiwanese fishermen are reportedly noticing
a marked relaxation of enforcement by Japanese coast guard vessels in
waters off the islets. Although Tokyo denies there has been any change
in its policy, Taiwanese fishermen have been able to operate freely in
areas that had hitherto led to intercepts.
Despite repeated denials by
Taiwanese government officials, critics of the Ma Ying-jeou
administration fear that Taiwan, whose relations with China have on some
levels greatly improved in recent years, may be “ganging up” with China
against Tokyo over the Senkakus, which are called the Diaoyu islands by
China and the Diaoyutai islands by Taiwan.
http://thediplomat.com/flashpoints-blog/2013/01/12/japan-china-scramble-military-jets-in-east-china-sea/