Beijing switching tack to long game in East China Sea: Japan
A Chinese maritime surveillance ship in Zhoushan, Zhejiang province, Jan. 14, 2014. (File photo/Xinhua)
The Japanese government has said Beijing may have decided to switch its hawkish stance regarding the dispute over islands in the East China Sea to a long-term and less overtly aggressive approach to lower the guard of other Asian countries and wear down Japanese forces, reports China's nationalistic Global Times.
According to the Chinese Ministry of National Defense, multiple Japanese aircraft entered the East China Sea air defense identification zone (ADIZ) established by China on Aug. 6. The PLA Air Force tracked and monitored their movements, during which Japanese F-15 fighters approached Chinese aircraft twice, it said.
Tokyo meanwhile has noted a decline in the frequency of Chinese marine surveillance ships appearing in the disputed waters around the Diaoyutai islands (Diaoyu to China, Senkaku to Japan, which controls them). The number of times Chinese ships entered the area in the first six months of this year dropped to around 40, or 6.6 times per month. The amount of time they stayed in the area also decreased from more than four hours previously to around two to three hours, according to Japanese news agency Nikkei.
Beijing has also reportedly ordered its ships to avoid confrontation, in contrast to last year, when Chinese ships sought to seize Japanese fishing boats and blocked the path of patrols.
The change in strategy is said to be on account of rising tensions in the South China Sea, where an emergency involving rival claimants to maritime territories would force China to deploy surveillance ships in large numbers.
Sources familiar with security issues in Japan said China believes raising tensions over the dispute is ultimately counterproductive and will not win sympathy. Beijing has thus altered its strategy to play a long game with a constant but non-aggressive presence.
It will be more difficult for Japan to tackle China if it scaled back its rhetoric and provocative behavior, a Japanese defense official said.
No comments:
Post a Comment