Latest news with #DaisukeKawai
Time of India
18 hours ago
- Politics
- Time of India
Japan-US-Philippines hold coast guard drills with eye on China
AP image KAGOSHIMA: Japan's coast guard will simulate a collision between vessels Friday during joint exercises with the United States and the Philippines seen as a show of unity against Chinese activity in disputed regional waters. It is the second time the countries' coast guards have held training drills together, following their first joint maritime exercise in the Philippines in 2023. Friday's simulation of a collision, fire and person overboard, which AFP reporters will observe, cap a week of exercises off Japan's southwest coast that began Monday. Dozens of personnel are taking part in the drills that officials say are not targeted at any one nation -- while using language often employed by Washington and its allies to indirectly refer to China. Hiroaki Odachi, the regional head of Japan's coast guard, said the exercises aimed to contribute "to the realisation of a free and open" Asia-Pacific region. Tensions between China and other claimants to parts of the East and South China Seas have driven Japan to deepen ties with the Philippines and the United States in recent years. In 2024, the three countries issued a joint statement that included stronger language towards Beijing. by Taboola by Taboola Sponsored Links Sponsored Links Promoted Links Promoted Links You May Like Memperdagangkan CFD Emas dengan salah satu spread terendah? IC Markets Mendaftar Undo "We express our serious concerns about the People's Republic of China's (PRC) dangerous and aggressive behavior in the South China Sea," it said, describing "dangerous and coercive use of Coast Guard and maritime militia vessels". They also expressed "strong opposition to any attempts by the PRC to unilaterally change the status quo by force or coercion in the East China Sea". 'Volatile flashpoint' China and the Philippines have engaged in months of confrontations in the contested South China Sea, which Beijing claims almost entirely, despite an international ruling that the assertion has no legal basis. Chinese and Japanese patrol vessels in the East China Sea also routinely stage face-offs around disputed islands. Friday marks the 214th straight day that Chinese vessels have been spotted sailing near the Tokyo-administered disputed islets known as the Diaoyu in China and Senkaku in Japan, according to the Japan coast guard. The current record is 215 straight days in 2023-24. "Such persistent intrusion raises a risk of accidental collision or confrontation in the East China Sea," Daisuke Kawai, director of the University of Tokyo's economic security and policy innovation programme, told AFP. Meanwhile "the South China Sea is now regarded as one of the world's most volatile flashpoints, I would say, where any accident at sea could escalate into the border crisis." "A trilateral coast guard framework bolsters maritime domain awareness and law enforcement capacity, making it harder for any one nation, China, to pick off a smaller player in isolation," Kawai said. The three countries have also carried out joint military exercises to bolster regional cooperation. Last week Tokyo and Beijing traded barbs over close encounters between their military planes over the Pacific high seas. Japan says recent Chinese military activities in the Pacific -- where Beijing's two operating aircraft carriers were sighted simultaneously for the first time -- reveal its intent to improve operational capacity in remote areas.
Int'l Business Times
19 hours ago
- Politics
- Int'l Business Times
Japan-US-Philippines Hold Coast Guard Drills With Eye On China
Japan's coast guard will simulate a collision between vessels Friday during joint exercises with the United States and the Philippines seen as a show of unity against Chinese activity in disputed regional waters. It is the second time the countries' coast guards have held training drills together, following their first joint maritime exercise in the Philippines in 2023. Friday's simulation of a collision, fire and person overboard, which AFP reporters will observe, cap a week of exercises off Japan's southwest coast that began Monday. Dozens of personnel are taking part in the drills that officials say are not targeted at any one nation -- while using language often employed by Washington and its allies to indirectly refer to China. Hiroaki Odachi, the regional head of Japan's coast guard, said the exercises aimed to contribute "to the realisation of a free and open" Asia-Pacific region. Tensions between China and other claimants to parts of the East and South China Seas have driven Japan to deepen ties with the Philippines and the United States in recent years. In 2024, the three countries issued a joint statement that included stronger language towards Beijing. "We express our serious concerns about the People's Republic of China's (PRC) dangerous and aggressive behavior in the South China Sea," it said, describing "dangerous and coercive use of Coast Guard and maritime militia vessels". They also expressed "strong opposition to any attempts by the PRC to unilaterally change the status quo by force or coercion in the East China Sea". China and the Philippines have engaged in months of confrontations in the contested South China Sea, which Beijing claims almost entirely, despite an international ruling that the assertion has no legal basis. Chinese and Japanese patrol vessels in the East China Sea also routinely stage face-offs around disputed islands. Friday marks the 214th straight day that Chinese vessels have been spotted sailing near the Tokyo-administered disputed islets known as the Diaoyu in China and Senkaku in Japan, according to the Japan Coast Guard. The current record is 215 straight days in 2023-24. "Such persistent intrusion raises a risk of accidental collision or confrontation in the East China Sea," Daisuke Kawai, director of the University of Tokyo's economic security and policy innovation programme, told AFP. Meanwhile "the South China Sea is now regarded as one of the world's most volatile flashpoints, I would say, where any accident at sea could escalate into the border crisis." "A trilateral coast guard framework bolsters maritime domain awareness and law enforcement capacity, making it harder for any one nation, China, to pick off a smaller player in isolation," Kawai said. The three countries have also carried out joint military exercises to bolster regional cooperation. Last week Tokyo and Beijing traded barbs over close encounters between their military planes over the Pacific high seas. Japan says recent Chinese military activities in the Pacific -- where Beijing's two operating aircraft carriers were sighted simultaneously for the first time -- reveal its intent to improve operational capacity in remote areas.
France 24
19 hours ago
- Politics
- France 24
Japan-US-Philippines hold coast guard drills with eye on China
It is the second time the countries' coast guards have held training drills together, following their first joint maritime exercise in the Philippines in 2023. Friday's simulation of a collision, fire and person overboard, which AFP reporters will observe, cap a week of exercises off Japan's southwest coast that began Monday. Dozens of personnel are taking part in the drills that officials say are not targeted at any one nation -- while using language often employed by Washington and its allies to indirectly refer to China. Hiroaki Odachi, the regional head of Japan's coast guard, said the exercises aimed to contribute "to the realisation of a free and open" Asia-Pacific region. Tensions between China and other claimants to parts of the East and South China Seas have driven Japan to deepen ties with the Philippines and the United States in recent years. In 2024, the three countries issued a joint statement that included stronger language towards Beijing. "We express our serious concerns about the People's Republic of China's (PRC) dangerous and aggressive behavior in the South China Sea," it said, describing "dangerous and coercive use of Coast Guard and maritime militia vessels". They also expressed "strong opposition to any attempts by the PRC to unilaterally change the status quo by force or coercion in the East China Sea". 'Volatile flashpoint' China and the Philippines have engaged in months of confrontations in the contested South China Sea, which Beijing claims almost entirely, despite an international ruling that the assertion has no legal basis. Chinese and Japanese patrol vessels in the East China Sea also routinely stage face-offs around disputed islands. Friday marks the 214th straight day that Chinese vessels have been spotted sailing near the Tokyo-administered disputed islets known as the Diaoyu in China and Senkaku in Japan, according to the Japan Coast Guard. The current record is 215 straight days in 2023-24. "Such persistent intrusion raises a risk of accidental collision or confrontation in the East China Sea," Daisuke Kawai, director of the University of Tokyo's economic security and policy innovation programme, told AFP. Meanwhile "the South China Sea is now regarded as one of the world's most volatile flashpoints, I would say, where any accident at sea could escalate into the border crisis." "A trilateral coast guard framework bolsters maritime domain awareness and law enforcement capacity, making it harder for any one nation, China, to pick off a smaller player in isolation," Kawai said. The three countries have also carried out joint military exercises to bolster regional cooperation. Last week Tokyo and Beijing traded barbs over close encounters between their military planes over the Pacific high seas. Japan says recent Chinese military activities in the Pacific -- where Beijing's two operating aircraft carriers were sighted simultaneously for the first time -- reveal its intent to improve operational capacity in remote areas.
Time of India
12-06-2025
- Politics
- Time of India
'Flying within 45 metres': Japan finds Chinese fighter jets dangerously close to military aircraft; Tokyo raises 'serious concerns'
Photo of Chinese jet for representational purposes. Japan on Thursday conveyed 'serious concerns' after Chinese fighter aircraft approached dangerously close to a Japanese military surveillance aircraft in the Pacific during the previous weekend. This occurrence followed the observation of two Chinese aircraft carriers navigating together in the Pacific for the first time, including within Japan's economic waters. Japan indicated this week that the aircraft carriers' activities - which China described as "routine training" - demonstrated the widening geographical reach of China's military operations. A spokesperson from Japan's defence ministry informed AFP on Thursday that Chinese fighter aircraft had flown "unusually close" to the Japanese patrol aircraft. On Saturday, a Chinese J-15 fighter from the Shandong aircraft carrier tracked a Japanese P-3C patrol aircraft for 40 minutes, followed by two J-15 jets doing the same for 80 minutes on Sunday, according to the spokesperson. "Throughout these extended periods, the jets maintained an unusually close proximity to the P-3C, flying within 45 metres" of the patrol aircraft at identical altitude on both occasions, he stated. On Sunday, the Chinese jets traversed the airspace approximately 900 metres ahead of the Japanese patrol aircraft - a distance coverable by a P-3C within seconds at cruising speed, the spokesperson added. "These irregular approaches risk accidental collisions, hence we have expressed serious concerns" to China and requested prevention of similar incidents, stated a defence ministry release. The statement confirmed no Japanese military personnel sustained injuries. A second defence ministry spokesperson informed AFP that Japan's message was conveyed through diplomatic channels and between defence ministry officials of both countries. A comparable incident was previously reported over a decade ago in May and June 2014, when Chinese Su-27 fighter jets flew within 30 metres of Japan's military aircraft. Daisuke Kawai, who directs the University of Tokyo's economic security and policy innovation programme, told AFP earlier this week that the aircraft carrier movements' timing might correlate with US-China economic tensions. "Beijing calculated that the United States would be less willing or able to respond militarily at this precise moment, seeing it as an opportune time to demonstrate its expanding military capabilities," he said.
