Japan-China tensions increase

Worries as Beijing suspected of building hangars for warplanes

JAPAN warned China yesterday that relations were deteriorating over disputed East China Sea islets, and China’s envoy in Tokyo reiterated Beijing’s stance that the specks of land were its territory and called for talks to resolve the dispute.

The diplomatic tussle comes amid simmering tension as China builds on outposts in the contested South China Sea, including what appear to be reinforced aircraft hangars, according to new satellite images.

Ties between Asia’s two largest economies have been strained in recent days since Japan saw a growing number of Chinese coastguard and other government ships sailing near the East China Sea islets, called the Senkaku, in Japan and Diaoyu in China.

The flurry of Chinese incursions follows a period of sustained pressure on China over its activities in the South China Sea, and China’s criticism of what it sees as Japanese interference in that dispute.

Japanese Foreign Minister Fumio Kishida had called in Chinese ambassador Cheng Yonghua for the second time since Friday and told him China was trying to change the status quo unilaterally, Japanese officials said.

Kishida had told Cheng the environment surrounding SinoJapanese ties was “deteriorating markedly”, the ministry said.

The Chinese diplomat said after the meeting that he had told Kishida the islands, which are controlled by Japan, were an integral part of China’s territory and the dispute should be resolved through dialogue. Dozens of Chinese vessels sailed near the islands at the weekend, raising alarm in Japan.

Cheng was called in by Japanese Deputy Foreign Minister Shinsuke Sugiyama last Friday over the incursions into what Japan sees as its waters.

The United States and Japan have questioned Chinese land reclamation on contested islands in the South China Sea, particularly since an international court rejected China’s historic claims to most of that sea last month.

China has refused to recognise the court ruling on a case brought by the Philippines.

Japan called on China to adhere to it, saying it was binding, but Beijing responded by warning Japan not to interfere.

China claims most of the South China Sea, through which $5-trillion (R67-trillion) in ship-borne trade passes every year.

Meanwhile, the Washingtonbased Centre for Strategic and International Studies (CSIS) said satellite images taken in late July over the South China Sea showed that hangars constructed on Fiery Cross, Subi and Mischief Reefs in the Spratly islands have room for any fighter jet in the Chinese air force.

The think-tank said in a report there was little evidence that China had deployed military aircraft to the outposts, but the rapid construction of reinforced hangars suggested that was likely to change.

“They are far thicker than you would build for any civilian purpose,” CSIS Asia specialist Gregory Poling told the New York Times.

“They’re reinforced to take a strike.” A US navy commander said it had not been confirmed that the hangars were for military use, but uncertainty about them could add to tension.

US Pacific Fleet Commander Admiral Scott Swift said recent developments were destabilising as opposed to stabilising the situation.

Separately, relations between China and another US ally, South Korea, have been strained in recent days by a decision by South Korea and the US to deploy an advanced anti-missile defence system, to guard against North Korean attacks.

China fears the system could be used against its military.