Japan bolsters maritime defense in southern territory
ISHIGAKI Island, Okinawa — Learning from the Philippine experience with China in the South China Sea, Japan has started bolstering its maritime defenses in this southernmost maritime territory.
Yoshitaka Nakayama, mayor of this island city whose territorial and maritime jurisdictions cover the Senkaku group of islands currently being claimed by China, said they don’t want the Spratly experience repeated in Japan.
“The Spratly experience is a learning experience for us,” said Nakayama, whose mayoralty post will be put to test in elections set two weeks from now.
Since the collision of a Chi- nese fishing boat and a Japanese Coast Guard vessel in Senkaku, the JCG are now regularly patrolling the area.
Aside from the newly operational, five-billion yen coast guard port facilities with 15 huge vessels, discussions are underway for the deployment of Japan Self Defense Force.
At present no military personnel are deployed on the island, except for police and coast guard personnel.
Nakayama said talks are ongoing for the deployment of air-to-surface and air-to-ship missiles in this island fast becoming a tourist site for Japanese and other nationals.
Nakayama said he would respect the decision of the central government to deploy land-based forces in the island city and listen to the decision of a majority of his constituents.
Residents on the island, who are mostly engaged in fishing and surgarcane farming, are divided over plans to deploy land-based troops and They said they don’t want to be the first target of an attack should war break out either between China and Japan or Japan against North Korea.
Aside from maritime security concerns with China, Japan is also dealing with a threat of missile attack from North Korea.
Phl foreign policy
Meanwhile, the Philippines is gradually benefiting in terms of economic development from President Duterte’s independent foreign policy, a Tokyo-based think tank said.
Kunihiko Miyake, research director of a private funded organization Cannon Institute for Global Studies, said that aside from the Philippines’ allies from the West, Duterte’s strategy is working and is doing good for the country.
Special case to this, he said, is Duterte’s cozying up with China, which is not only an emerging military power in the region but also an economic giant around the globe.
“His strategy is correct. Getting as much support and assistance from China while massaging the back of the US and Japan,” Miyake said, referring to Duterte.
This shift in foreign policy, has brought huge amount of foreign investments to the Philippines in terms of infrastructure development to spur economic growth.
With highly improved relations, China committed to finance at least three infrastructure projects in the Philippines worth $3.4 billion, which could be rolled out in the first half of this year, the Japan Times reported last year.
The projects were part of the Philippines’ infrastructure wish list presented to China for possible financing, either through grants or loans, three months after Duterte visited China in October 2016.
These projects cover loan agreements on building irrigation, water supply and railways in Luzon and Mindanao.
Last year, Japan pledged to provide close to P60 billion in loans to help the Philippines fund three key infrastructure and development projects, including the construction of a subway system in Metro Manila.
All these projects are aimed at upgrading and modernizing the Philippines’ aging infrastructure to lift its growth rate to as much as eight percent, create more jobs and reduce poverty.
The Philippines’ highly improved foreign relations with China are timely because Beijing has so much money to spend as a result of its unprecedented economic rise, according to other Japan policy experts said.
But Miyake warned that this economic phenomenon being enjoyed by Beijing would not last forever.
He compared China to a poor, grown-up boy who suddenly acquired massive wealth and doesn’t know how to handle and manage his assets.
“China wants to control everything,” Miyake said in reference to Beijing’ flexing economic and military muscle not only in the Asia-Pacific region but also in the Middle East, Europe and Africa.
But there has to be an on end to this, Miyake said, pointing out that no power in the history of mankind lasts forever.
He said sooner or later, Beijing would feel the economic crunch and that this early, it should reshape its strategy. He projected this to happen in a couple of years.
“All (highly developed) countries experienced this and by 2020, Beijing will start experiencing this also,” Miyake said.
He said global order would eventually prevail and have a direct bearing on China, noting that Beijing committed a grave mistake when it rejected a ruling of the Permanent Court of Arbitration of the United Nations that invalidated its maritime and territorial claims in the South China Sea.
China jets on cruise mission
China has sent jet fighters to the South China Sea for joint combat cruise missions, according to a report published in a Chinese newspaper.
The Global Times quoted an announcement by the People’s Liberation Army (PLA) Air Force on Wednesday that the Su-35 Russian-made advanced fighters were dispatched to the South China Sea, which a retired major general said could be a reaction to provocation by the United States in January.
The PLA Air Force said on its official Weibo social media account that this is a pragmatic action for the air force to fulfill its mission in the new era and conduct a combat training military exercise.
US destroyer USS Hopper sailed within 12 miles of the disputed Scarborough (Panatag) Shoal in the South China Sea under what the US Navy referred to as a freedom of navigation operation.
Hopper sailed near the island on Jan. 17 as part of its Western Pacific deployment.
China’s foreign ministry protested the move, saying the destroyer sailed near Huangyan Dao, as the shoal is called in China, without permission from the Chinese government.
The report said the Su-35 is a multirole fighter aircraft that can attack targets on the ground and sea. The fighter can significantly improve the combat capability of the air force overseas.