A Chinese ship invading the Senkaku Islands is in a dangerous situation
After 11:00 on May 11, 2021, Kyodo News said, "Two ships of the China Coast Guard, which had invaded the territorial waters around the Senkaku Islands in Okinawa Prefecture from the morning of the 10th, were about 8:40 am on the 11th. The two vessels sailed in the territorial waters for about 21 hours in line with the movement of one Japanese fishing vessel. "
The situation in which Chinese public vessels roam the territorial waters of Japan for almost a day is nothing short of unusual.
On May 11, another two vessels sailed in the continental zone, and Chinese vessels have been confirmed around the Senkaku Islands for 88 consecutive days.
China steadily preparing for invasion
Former U.S. Indo-Pacific Army Commander Philip Davidson said at a hearing of the U.S. Senate Military Commission on March 9, "China further ambitions to replace the United States, which leads the rules-based international order. On the other hand, the deterrence against China by the (US) conventional force is collapsing, which is the biggest crisis for the US and allies, and there is a risk that China will launch a military attack on Taiwan in the next 6 years. There is. "
Commander John Aquilino, who took office on April 30, said at a nomination approval hearing in March that "this issue is far more urgent than most people think". He warned that the degree was much higher.
Theoretically, "in 6 years" includes "tomorrow", but consciously it sounds like "there is a gap" rather than "immediately".
The former commander would have wanted to suggest that Xi Jinping's next administration would put the United States in the middle of a GDP (gross domestic product), but the new commander Achillino said, "It's not too long. I warned you! "
The Taiwan issue and the Senkaku issue are closely related. Nevertheless, many Japanese people seem to be indifferent.
It may be during the Korona-ka that increases the degree of indifference, but more than that, it is China's clever "salami slicing".
It is said that the surroundings are firmly solidified when they notice it, while preparing the law so as not to draw attention to anyone other than the people concerned, that is, to slice salami.
The "National Defense Law" was revised on December 26, 2020, and has been in force since the beginning of the year. Clarified that the goal is "the great reconstruction of the Chinese people."
In February 2021, the Maritime Police Law, which gave the Maritime Police Department in charge of maritime security the authority to use weapons in its jurisdiction, came into effect.
The newspaper reported at that time, but it seems that nothing happened now. Then, on April 30, the Maritime Bureau enacted the "Maritime Traffic Safety Act," which authorizes foreign vessels passing through the territorial waters to move out, and will come into effect on September 1.
China, which sees the Senkaku as its territory, will be able to legitimately expel Japanese fishing vessels and patrol vessels under these laws.
China's confident remarks
On November 24, 2020, China's State Councilor and Foreign Minister Wang Yi visited Japan and made a joint press release after meeting with Foreign Minister Toshimitsu Motegi.
Mr. Mogi said, "I explained Japan's position on the waters around the Senkaku Islands and strongly urged the Chinese side to take positive action." "There is a situation in which we are entering the sensitive waters around Diaoyu Islands," he said. "We will continue to protect our sovereignty."
Even after the meeting with Prime Minister Yoshihide Suga the next day, Mr. Wang Yi told reporters, "Fake fishing boats are repeatedly in sensitive waters. It is very important to keep such boats out." rice field.
On both days, a China Coast Guard ship sailed in the continental zone around the Senkaku Islands.
To the people other than Japan who hear Mr. Wang Yi's remarks on "sensitive sea areas," it sounds like Chinese fishing vessels are invading the "sovereign waters" by disguising their nationality. Isn't it?
They make such false statements to the world in a dignified manner, and eventually make the lie "true."
At the House of Councilors plenary session that followed, Foreign Minister Wang Yi told Mr. Wang Yi, "It is a territory peculiar to Japan that has no doubt in history and international law, and it effectively controls it. The problem doesn't exist in the first place. "
Japan denies China's wrong position "on the spot" and "to the world" because China is not listening and is sending out to the world "it is its jurisdiction". Must.
Japan, which is a concave civilization, keeps its position even if the other party says something wrong and does not make things rough with gentle expressions, but convex China pushes Japan's thoughts more and more.
And before you know it, the Senkaku makes you think of China's territory and the world.
Mr. Wang Yi's series of remarks is regarded as if it was grounded by three laws, and it is certain that he will crack down on the main customer in the future.
The Japanese government does not inform the public of the actual situation of the Senkaku Islands
In fact, do the Japanese people know what is happening at the site of the Senkaku Islands and where fishing boats are fishing?
So far, the mass media has reported that "Chinese maritime police vessels have entered the continental zone," "continuing to invade the territorial waters for 〇 hours," and "the Japan Coast Guard patrol vessel approached and warned."
From these reports, many people have favorably received that the Japan Coast Guard patrol vessels are doing a great job of expelling Chinese vessels that have invaded the continental zone and territorial waters, without being inferior. Isn't it?
However, the situation that actress and journalist Nami Katsuragi, who tried to land on the Senkaku Islands by fishing boat many times before and after nationalization, told us at a lecture hosted by the authors a few years ago was completely different. And it was awesome.
His article in the column "Fastball & Curved Ball" of the "Sankei Shimbun" dated February 25, 2021 tells us about the situation today.
On the night of February 5, four days after the enforcement of the Maritime Police Law, he talks while looking at the photographs taken by two fishing boats (No. 1 Sakuramaru and Emimaru) that set sail from Ishigaki Island.
"The amazing familiarity of the China Coast Guard 1301 and 2502, which have big faces right next to Uotsuri Island, and the Japan Coast Guard patrol boat, which makes you feel no urgency to confront them. It was a sight. "
This happened after the nationalization in September 2012.
"Until nationalization, landing was forbidden, but if you reached out, you could get close enough to reach the island. Fishermen were also diving in front of the island," he said. "Approaching within 1 nautical miles (1852 meters)" was blocked by Kaiho, and fishermen could no longer dive. "
If this were the only thing, it would still be said, "While keeping the Japanese people away, (...) Chinese public vessels are not only in the territorial waters (author's note: 12 nautical miles), but also in the vicinity of the islands with their own faces."
Roughly speaking, Chinese ships are entering and playing within one nautical mile that Japanese people cannot enter.
I think this sentence alone will make the people stunned.
Even if Emimaru was attached behind the "Cast Guard 1301", the Chinese public vessel did not react at all, and when sailing to overtake the port side, a patrol boat came in between after a while, but "Warning as before" I feel like I'm posing to protect the fishing boat without ringing the whistle. "
"I don't want to show that, or since 2014, we haven't even been allowed to leave the port," Katsuragi said. "I'm not entirely convinced that the government has blocked this application," he said.
In short, Chinese public vessels are wandering closer to the island than Japanese fishing vessels, but patrol vessels are accusing them of not warning or expelling them.
As Foreign Minister Wang Yi described as "a Japanese fishing boat whose truth is unknown" and "a camouflaged fishing boat," it seems that the site has already fallen over.
Japan's misery without strategy
Prime Minister Zhou Enlai interrupted when Prime Minister Kakuei Tanaka, who visited China for the normalization of diplomatic relations between Japan and China in 1972, tried to bring out the Senkaku Islands.
It may not have been a good topic in a friendly atmosphere, but it may have had a "don't want to clarify" conspiracy.
If it is not raised and decided at the time of normalizing diplomatic relations, it may become a problem later and it may not be possible to collect it.
Especially in China, which is good at long-term strategies, and with countries that are not ashamed of inconvenient promises.
Childish Japanese diplomacy in the atmosphere continued thereafter. Deng Xiaoping, who came to Japan in 1978 to exchange ratification documents for the Japan-China Peace and Friendship Treaty, developed a theory of shelving the Senkaku Islands.
China enacted the territorial sea law in 1992 and incorporated it into its own territory before Japan overlooked it as it was and did nothing. China's "Senkaku theft" was clear, and Japan should have denied China's argument by various means and public relations.
Japan had many opportunities to visibly bring the Senkaku Islands under its administration even before the normalization of diplomatic relations. However, Japan was not aware of the importance of the Senkaku Islands.
Even after the normalization of diplomatic relations, Japan's power was superior, but Japan did not move.
In response to China's relentlessness, there is no strategy that cannot be called Japan's light night, and there is no awareness of crisis management. It goes without saying that this awareness is reflected in constitutional issues.
Memorial to the reclamation of the Senkaku Islands
Needless to say, it is an undeniable fact that the Senkaku Islands were under the administration of Japan. Currently, Ishigaki City has set up "Senkaku Islands Pioneering Day" (January 14th) and is holding various events.
There is a "Koga Tatsushiro Senkaku Islands Pioneer Memorial" in the city to pray for the achievements of pioneering the Senkaku Islands, and the SDF personnel stationed there now also perform cleaning services on the anniversary. (According to the Self-Defense Forces OB organization newspaper "Taiyukai" (March 15, 3rd year of Reiwa)).
Koga Tatsushiro was born in Yame City (Fukuoka Prefecture) in 1856. Make up.
When the government incorporated the Senkaku Islands into Japan in 1895, it developed a bonito manufacturing business based on Uotsuri Island and Kuba Island, and at its peak, more than 200 islanders settled and it was also called "Koga Village". ..
He received the Medal with Blue Ribbon from the Japanese Government in 1909 for his achievements and died in 1918.
In the winter of 1919, 31 fishermen from Fujian Province (China) were in distress and washed ashore on Uotsuri Island. Consul General of the Republic of China issued a letter of appreciation in the following 20 years, thanking the villagers of Ishigaki for their rescue.
The letter of appreciation already found was addressed to the rescuer, but the letter of appreciation found after the rear-end collision of a Chinese fishing vessel was addressed to the village mayor.
The text is almost the same, and it is clearly stated that Uotsuri Island is "Wayoshima" and "Japanese Empire Okinawa, Yaeyama-gun, Senkaku Islands, Wayoshima".
After the defeat, when Okinawa was under the administration of the United States, Kubajima became the bombing ground of the US military, because it was under the sovereignty of Japan before the war.
What to do as a sovereign act
At the summit meeting with President Xi Jinping during the time of former Prime Minister Shinzo Abe, he agreed to make the East China Sea a sea of peace, and Japan had a strong desire to settle peacefully.
However, in 2020, not to mention the connected waters, territorial invasions were frequent, and they stayed in the surrounding waters for 333 days a year.
It seems that Japan's desire to settle peacefully was only a fleeting one-sided dream. It is no longer possible to stand by on an uninhabited island without doing anything.
It is necessary to clarify to the international community that it is under the administration of Japan. The government used to profess to have civil servants stationed there, but it has not been implemented yet.
Volunteers from the Liberal Democratic Party have also set up a study session in early April regarding the resident civil servants. In addition to being resident, there are also proposals for harbors, heliports, lighthouses, and natural environment observation facilities such as the habitat of grazing goats.
Yoshihiko Yamada, a professor at Tokai University, designated the remote islands of the northwestern Pacific as a "marine protected area" under national control, and restricted the passage of ships, tourism, and the capture of animals to the Senkaku Islands as a "marine protected area." We are proposing a system to monitor the peace of the East China Sea with the eyes of the world, such as by including an international research team. ).
Masashi Nishihara, President of the Research Institute for Peace and Security, will increase the number of items that increase China's dependence on Japan from the strategy of "winning without fighting", and set up a simple meteorological station in the Senkaku to make the Senkaku area a weather forecast. It proposes to include it, further tout the historical facts that were Japanese territory, and launch a Japan-US consultation system for the defense of the islands ("Protect the Senkaku by'win without fighting'", "Sankei". Newspaper "Research Institute for Peace and Security" dated November 16, 2nd year)
Kunio Oda, a visiting professor at Toyo Gakuen University from the Japan Air Self-Defense Force, also mentioned that Japan and the United States will jointly conduct shooting bombing training using Kubajima and Taishojima, which are US military-only shooting bombing sites that have not been used since the 1970s. ("Seiron" Reiwa March 3rd issue, "Squadron" Reiwa 3rd April 15th issue).
From the point of view that it has been neglected because there was almost no available land area, there is a trade-off with environmental protection, but first of all, I think it is okay to secure land area by landfill.
in conclusion
The United States has identified China's work on Uighurs as "genocide," and the United Kingdom is considering the same. NATO (North Atlantic Treaty Organization) also recognizes China as a "threat" and plans to dispatch aircraft carriers and ships to make it a "free and open Indo-Pacific."
From the perspective of the international community, the Indo-Pacific is now becoming the focus, and from the perspective of Japan, the area around Okinawa, including Taiwan and the Senkaku Islands, is an immediate issue.
However, it should be remembered that the National Defense Mobilization Law, which China enforced in 2010, will mobilize Chinese in Japan. This is because the law obliges Chinese people in Japan to stand up.
There are about 500,000 young people in Japan, including technical intern trainees and international students. Some are said to have been instructed by the PLA under the pretext of "courtesy" before coming to Japan.
In addition, land and forests throughout Japan from Hokkaido to Okinawa are bought and fished with Chinese capital, but there are many off-limits, etc., and the actual situation has not been grasped by the administrative authorities. It may be necessary not only to investigate, but also to monitor by unmanned aerial vehicles.
They became trojans in an emergency because they caused a violent incident at the Nagano Holy Fire Relay during the 2008 Beijing Olympics and did not allow Japanese people to enter the gymnasium rented out in Niigata Prefecture during the 2011 Great East Japan Earthquake. It does not necessarily prevent Japan from standing up nationwide and concentrating in the southwestern region.
However, most of the people do not think so much.
Hiroyuki Itsuki, a writer, was not so surprised by "Masaka" in the past, but "recently, people who are called experts and information experts often disappoint", "Masaka, the reality of Masaka. I'll hit you. "
And, it is said that such a situation is sometimes jokingly called "a state of worries stopped" ("Era of" Masaka "," Shincho 45 "2018.1 collection).
Suspension of anxiety is similar to "cardiopulmonary arrest," and a situation in which many people do not consider the Senkaku as "myself" could lead to the death of the "nation."
Author: Seiyu Mori