The newly appointed Japanese minister of defense on Thursday said that her nation would step up activity in the South China Sea, in comments made less than two weeks after Chinese President Xi Jinping (習近平) urged Japan to “exercise caution” in the waters.
“Japan on its part will increase its engagement in the South China Sea through, for example, Maritime Self-Defense Force joint training cruises with the US Navy, bilateral and multi-lateral exercises with regional navies, as well as providing capacity-building assistance to coastal nations,” Tomomi Inada said in a speech at the Center for Strategic and International Studies in Washington.
While not a claimant in the complex web of territorial disputes in the water bisected by vital shipping lanes, Japan has frequently urged all parties to adhere to international law and refrain from trying to change the “status quo.”
Photo: EPA
Japan has also provided assistance to the coastguards and navies of Southeast Asian nations and has its own, separate territorial dispute with China.
In the speech, Inada singled out China for its reclamation of land around maritime features in the water and expressed support for the US navy’s freedom of navigation operations there.
“Coercive attempts to change the facts on the ground and upend the prevailing norms do not serve anybody’s interest,” she said. “Unfortunately, what China has been doing recently in the East China Sea and South China Sea is just that, and it is raising serious concern in the Asia-Pacific and beyond.”
Earlier this month, Xi met Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe for the first time in almost a year and a half. During the discussions on the sidelines of the G20 summit in Hangzhou, China, Xi said Japan should “exercise caution in its words and deeds” on the South China Sea issue, Xinhua news agency reported.
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