Japan has sent its first maritime warship to sail through the Taiwan Strait, situated between Taiwan and China.
The JS Sazanami, a naval destroyer, travelled through the Strait accompanied by ships from Australia and New Zealand, on way to military exercises in the South China Sea.
According to Japan’s official Kyodo News agency, the move has sparked backlash from China.
“We urge Japan to honour its promises on the Taiwan issue, be cautious in words and deeds, and not disrupt Sino-Japanese relations as well as peace and stability in the Taiwan Strait,” said Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesperson Lin Jian, as reported by Kyodo News. Jian added that Beijing is “highly vigilant about the political intentions” of this move.
A week earlier, Tokyo had lodged a protest with Beijing over a new route for the Pacific Ocean, taken by the Chinese Navy’s aircraft carrier and two destroyers. They had passed through the East China Sea, between the outlying Japanese islands of Yonaguni and Iriomote.
Credit: JMSDF
Japan also claimed that a Chinese military aircraft entered its airspace about a month ago.
Japan’s chief of the Defence Ministry’s Joint Staff, Gen Yoshihide Yoshida told a press conference that increased Chinese military activities in the Indo-Pacific region is a “deep concern” not only for Japan but also for the international community.
He did not refer directly to the Japanese defence ship moving through the Strait but mentioned that Tokyo will continue to monitor and analyse activities in the region to decide whether surveillance needs to be enhanced.
China’s Global Times, a popular nationalistic tabloid, also reported on the issue saying “the situation was under control”. Beijing regards Taiwan as part of China and many countries, including the United States, do not recognise the Taiwan as independent, but are also opposed for any reunification by force.
According to Song Zhongping, a Hong Kong-based military analyst, the three countries’ ships travelling together through the Taiwan Strait is a “highly provocative act”. Beijing is likely to respond, he told the South China Morning Post.
In another interview with the Japan Times, associate professor at the University of Tokyo Sebastian Maslow pointed out that both the outgoing Japanese PM Fumio Kishida as well as the late former PM Shinzo Abe had identified securing the status quo across the Taiwan Strait as a key national security issue for Japan. “Freedom of navigation has been a core component of their Free and Open Indo-Pacific Strategy,” he told the Japan Times.
However analysts also point to the strategic role of the US in this whole situation, which largely seeks to deter and counterbalance an increasingly powerful China. But will a “tit for tat” strategy adopted by either side, lead to a resolution or a heightening of regional tensions, they argue. “What we really need to see is strategy on both sides to strengthen – rather than stiffen – diplomatic efforts, so that any escalation is prevented”.
