China and Japan Disagree Over Senkaku Islands Incident

Summary: China and Japan disagree over the loads and the purposes of a China Coast Guard vessel 29 kilometers (18 miles) off the disputed Senkaku Islands.

Kitakojima and Minamikojima, two disputed Senkaku Islands: Made based on [http://w3land.mlit.go.jp/WebGIS/ National Land Image Information (Color Aerial Photographs)], Ministry of Land, Infrastructure, Transport and Tourism of Japan

China and Japan are disagreeing on the loads and purposes behind the appearance of China Coast Guard vessel No. 31239 Dec. 22, 2015, near the Senkaku Islands in the East China Sea.

The Japan Coast Guard bases its reservations upon the Chinese coast guard ship being equipped with four gun turrets near Senkaku’s five islets and three rocks. The China Coast Guard considers the People’s Republic’s vessel as carrying standard equipment through Chinese-claimed waters near islands claimed by China as the Diaoyu (Fishing) archipelago. China and the Republic of Taiwan, which calls them Diaoyutai (Pinnacle) islands, dispute inclusion of the islands within the total area of Ishigaki, Okinawa Prefecture, Japan.

China endorses Senkaku’s inclusion within Toucheng Township.

China and Taiwan find themselves in agreement over Senkaku’s inclusion within the township famous for black sand beaches, fresh seafood restaurants and Juh-an River Bird sanctuary. The agreement goes no further since China claims Taiwan as the Democratic Republic’s 23rd province and disagrees with the Republic of China’s separate sovereign state status. Japan and Taiwan hold onto geographic proximity since Senkaku is 170 kilometers (105.63 miles) from Ishigaki and Toucheng but 330 kilometers (205.05 miles) from mainland China.

China indicates that ownership goes back to the archipelago’s discovery by Chinese navigators during the 14th century and the use of the islands as navigation markers.

Japan justifies geo-political claims through annexation in 1895, after the First Sino-Japanese War.

The archipelago keeps alternatingly high and low profiles as undeveloped, uninhabited islands near fishing grounds and shipping lanes frequented by nations of East and Southeast Asia.

It looks like economics will remain an important source of territorial dispute for China, Japan and Taiwan since undersea oil reserves are suspected as of 1968. The East China Sea makes access possible to waters, alternately called East Sea by Vietnam and South Sea by China, supporting $5-trillion, ship-borne trading annually. Economic analysts and political historians note the potential for any conflict between China, Japan and Taiwan over the archipelago to involve Brunei, Malaysia, Philippines and Vietnam.

Mutual fighter jet and patrol ship-shadowing offer possible accidental collisions and militaristic clashes.

Tuesday’s incident 29 kilometers (18 miles) off the Senkaku Islands at 9:00 a.m. local time (12:00 a.m. Coordinated Universal Time) proves not to be immediately escalatory.

Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesman Hong Lei questions infractions by the Democratic Republic’s vessel since “Patrols by Chinese coastguard ships in the relevant seas are beyond reproach.”

Takako Ito, Japan's Foreign Affairs Ministry spokeswoman, reveals: “We have delivered our strong protest and requested (China) to stop the activities near the Senkaku Islands immediately.”

The interaction serves as a reminder of issues that 20th-century alternations of peace with war leave unresolved for the 21st century's less militaristic, more diplomatic problem-solving.

Uninhabitability touts no claims whereas geographical proximity and prior claim trigger different answers.

distances from Senkaku Islands to People's Republic of China, Taiwan (Republic of China) and Japan: Jackopoid, CC BY SA 3.0, via Wikimedia Commons

Acknowledgment

My special thanks to talented artists and photographers/concerned organizations who make their fine images available on the internet.

Image credits:

two disputed Senkaku islands: National Land Image Information (Color Aerial Photographs), Ministry of Land, Infrastructure, Transport and Tourism of Japan, CC BY 2.0, via Wikimedia Commons @ https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Kitakojima_and_Minamikojima_of_Senkaku_Islands.jpg

distances from Senkaku Islands to People's Republic of China, Taiwan (Republic of China) and Japan: Jackopoid, CC BY SA 3.0, via Wikimedia Commons @ https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Senkaku_Diaoyu_Tiaoyu_Islands.png

For further information:

Taplin, Nathaniel; Takenaka, Kiyoshi; Twaronite, Lisa; Blanchard, Ben. Edited by Dean Yates and Nick Macfie. 23 December 2015. “Japan Says Armed Chinese Coastguard Ship Seen Near Disputed Islands.” Reuters > World > Tokyo.
Available @ http://www.reuters.com/article/us-china-japan-islands-idUSKBN0U606H20151223

wochit News. 22 December 2015. "Japan Stepping Up Military Presence In Tense East China Sea." YouTube.
Available @ https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JPvKsrw-rJI