China Warns Japan Not to Complicate South China Sea SituationIsabel Reynolds
November 5, 2015
Japan's Maritime Self-Defense Force destroyer ship Kurama, left, leads a troop of vessels during a review at Sagami Bay, Japan, on Oct. 18, 2015. Photographer: Tomohiro Ohsumi/Bloomberg
Nations' defense ministers meet on sidelines of Asean event
Japanese officials cagey on role of country's armed forcesChinese Defense Minister Chang Wanquan urged his Japanese counterpart not to take any actions that might complicate the situation in the South China Sea, saying the waters were not an issue between the two countries.
Chang made the remarks, reported by China’s official Xinhua news agency Wednesday, in a meeting with Japanese Defense Minister Gen Nakatani on the sidelines of a conference of Southeast Asian defense ministers in Kuala Lumpur. The gathering was overshadowed by disputes over the waters after the U.S. Navy last month sailed a warship to within 12 nautical miles of an artificial island built by China, thus challenging its territorial claims.
While Japan is offering verbal support for the actions of its only treaty ally, officials have been cagey about what role the officially pacifist nation’s maritime forces could play in the South China Sea. China is Japan’s biggest trading partner and relations between the nations are thawing after turning their coldest in decades over a separate territorial dispute in the East China Sea.
"In legal terms, it’s possible to sail through because of the right of innocent passage," said retired vice-admiral Hiromi Takashima. "However, it is a major political problem, so if you ask whether Japan can actually do it, it’s difficult in terms of both the international and domestic situation."
Linkback:
https://tubagbohol.mikeligalig.com/index.php?topic=81304.0