Japanese Defense Ministry
- Japan reported that a Chinese Navy research ship entered its territorial waters on Saturday.
- This incident occurred shortly after a Chinese military aircraft breached Japanese airspace.
- China maintained that the two occurrences are unrelated, claiming the ship’s journey was lawful.
Japan has formally lodged a complaint against China, stating that one of its naval vessels trespassed into its territorial waters. This allegation follows a recent violation by a Beijing spy plane in Japan’s airspace.
The sequence of these events, dismissed as connected by China, is escalating tensions between the two countries.
The Ministry of Defense in Japan reported on Saturday morning that the incursion occurred around 6:00 AM when the Chinese vessel moved eastward into Japanese territory, situated off Kuchinoerabu Island in the Tokara Strait, which lies southwest of Japan’s primary islands. The Schuppan-class survey ship remained stationary in this area until it departed to the southwest near Yakushima Island at approximately 7:53 AM. A defense ministry map illustrated this naval movement.
Japanese Defense Ministry
In reaction to this development, Namazu Hiroyuki, head of Asia-Pacific Affairs for Japan’s Foreign Ministry، expressed strong concern and issued formal protests to China’s embassy located in Tokyo. He emphasized previous incidents involving Chinese vessels operating near Japanese waters.
Hiroyuki additionally pointed out last week’s breach involving a Y-9 reconnaissance aircraft from China entering Japanese airspace for three minutes near Danjo Islands—southeast off Nagasaki. Following this intrusion, Japan deployed fighter jets from its Air Self-Defense Force as an immediate measure. Throughout April 2023 to March 2024 alone, over 600 such scramble operations were recorded due predominantly to incursions by Chinese military aircrafts.
Japanese Defense Ministry
The rapid succession between these provocations has heightened alarms within Tokyo; however, China has reiterated their independence from each other and denied any correlation between them.
A spokesperson for China’s Foreign Affairs Department , Mao Ning , stated on Monday that navigation through Tokara Strait is classified as an international transit corridor and characterized sailing through it as merely an exercise in legitimate rights under global maritime law as per United Nations guidelines . She firmly rejected suggestions linking or interpreting both incidents together .
The current diplomatic landscape remains precarious for both nations amidst ongoing discussions confronting pressing issues—including but not limited to contaminated water management stemming from Fukushima nuclear facility last fall coupled with rising strains related concerning Taiwan initiated tensions imposed upon explored relations will proceed further down uncertain pathways also impacting regional stability overall .
