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Yomiuri Shimbun
5 days ago
- Politics
- Yomiuri Shimbun
Japan Suspects Chinese Flattops Conducted Drills against U.S.
Courtesy of the Joint Staff of the Defense Ministry The Chinese Navy aircraft carrier Liaoning is seen in the waters near Iwoto Island on Sunday. TOKYO (Jiji Press) — Japan's Defense Ministry suspects that Chinese aircraft carriers recently found operating in the Pacific may have conducted drills for countering U.S. forces in the event of a Taiwan contingency. The ministry last week announced for the first time that it had spotted two Chinese aircraft carriers operating simultaneously in Pacific waters near Japan. The vessels sailed within Japan's exclusive economic zone near remote islands that are part of the Ogasawara chain. In addition, there were incidents in which a Chinese fighter jet based on one of the flattops flew dangerously close to a Maritime Self-Defense Force plane. The ministry is analyzing China's intentions behind these operations, sources said. Of the Chinese aircraft carriers, the Liaoning crossed for the first time the so-called second island chain, which links the Ogasawara Islands and the U.S. territory of Guam, sailing within the EEZ around Minamitorishima on June 7. China is said to regard the second island chain as a defense line to keep at bay U.S. aircraft carriers and submarines coming from Guam and elsewhere in the event of a Taiwan contingency. According to ministry sources, the Liaoning and the other flattop, Shandong, may have conducted exercises for countering U.S. forces in the event of a Taiwan contingency, with one playing the role of a U.S. aircraft carrier and the other practicing intercepting it. Regarding the close encounters between the Japanese and Chinese planes, some observers say that China may have made the moves because it did not want Japanese aircraft to approach the air defense zone established by the carrier fleet. The Shandong operated in the EEZ around Okinotorishima on June 9, with the departures and arrivals of carrier-based aircraft confirmed. In the EEZ around Okinotorishima, a Chinese marine research ship operated without Japan's consent in late May. Although the Japanese government protested, China maintained its position of not recognizing the EEZ, saying that Okinotorishima is not an island but rocks. 'It is necessary to examine whether there is any connection between the marine research ship and the Chinese military behavior in the EEZ,' a ruling party member said. The sea area around Minamitorishima where the Liaoning sailed is believed to hold significant seabed resources. According to the International Seabed Authority, China plans to test-mine for manganese nodules, which contain minor metals, from the seabed in international waters outside Japan's EEZ around Minamitorishima under exploration rights granted by the ISA. 'We will take all possible measures for warning and surveillance and deter any attempts to unilaterally change the status quo by force,' Defense Minister Gen Nakatani told a press conference Friday. 'We will proceed with a detailed analysis' of the latest movements of Chinese aircraft carriers, he added.
Miami Herald
13-06-2025
- Politics
- Miami Herald
China Feuds With US Ally Over Fighter Jet Intercept
China and Japan-a treaty ally of the United States-engaged in finger-pointing after their military aircraft had close encounters while conducting operations over the Pacific Ocean. Beijing accused Tokyo of "intruding" into the training area of its naval fleet, while Japan asserted that Chinese fighter jets deliberately flew in close proximity to its patrol aircraft. Newsweek has contacted the Chinese and Japanese foreign ministries for comment via email. Japan has been monitoring the Chinese navy-the largest in the world by hull count-in the western Pacific Ocean as the Northeast Asian country forms part of the first island chain, a defensive line of islands intended to contain China's navy under a U.S. maritime strategy. China has deployed both of its aircraft carriers-CNS Liaoning and CNS Shandong-to the east of the first island chain since June 7. Japan's military reported that its patrol aircraft was intercepted by fighter jets launched from the Shandong while conducting surveillance. Regarding the aerial intercept incidents reported by Japan the previous day, Lin Jian, a spokesperson for the Chinese Foreign Ministry, said at a news conference on Thursday that the two countries' defense departments "are in communication through existing channels." However, the Chinese official blamed Japan's "close-in reconnaissance" of China's routine military activities for creating what he described as "maritime and air security risks" and urged the Japanese military to stop such dangerous actions by its vessels and aircraft. Meanwhile, an unnamed spokesperson for the Chinese Embassy in Japan reiterated a statement from the Chinese navy, saying the dual aircraft carrier deployment in the western Pacific Ocean was part of routine training and did not "target any specific country or objective." The Chinese spokesperson accused the Japanese patrol aircraft of "seriously disrupting" the training by approaching the aircraft carrier. The official said, "China conducted professional and standardized on-site handling in accordance with laws and regulations." In Japan, General Yoshihide Yoshida, the chief of the Joint Staff, told media that the approach by Chinese fighter jets toward the Japanese patrol aircraft was not accidental, saying the two incidents lasted for 40 and 80 minutes, respectively, and occurred on two consecutive days. Tokyo expressed serious concern to Beijing and requested measures to prevent a recurrence, said Chief Cabinet Secretary Yoshimasa Hayashi, the Japanese government's spokesperson, at a news conference. He added that Japan would defend its territory, airspace and waters. Lin Jian, a spokesperson for the Chinese Foreign Ministry, said on Thursday: "China's activities in relevant waters and airspace are consistent with international law and international practices." An unnamed spokesperson for the Chinese Embassy in Japan said on Thursday: "China urges Japan to stop dangerous actions that interfere with China's training activities and to avoid causing unexpected incidents." General Yoshihide Yoshida, the chief of the Japan Joint Staff, said on Thursday: "If we relax our posture, we will encourage attempts to unilaterally change the status quo by (China's) force." Yoshimasa Hayashi, Japan's chief cabinet secretary, said on Thursday: "The unusual approach of a Chinese military aircraft could provoke an accidental collision." Japan is likely to continue its surveillance of Chinese military activities near its territory as China's navy and air force expand their reach and presence across the wider Pacific Ocean. Related Articles US Ally Keeps American Missiles at Choke Point Near ChinaUS Aircraft Carrier Holds 'Warfighting' Drills on China's DoorstepChina Closer To Solving Hyperloop Train's Biggest FlawDonald Trump Issues Next Trade Deal Update After China 2025 NEWSWEEK DIGITAL LLC.
Straits Times
12-06-2025
- Politics
- Straits Times
Japan should allow nuclear arms on its soil for effective deterrence: Retired military officers
As the world's only country to have suffered atomic bombings, Japan vowed to never possess, produce and permit the introduction of nuclear weapons onto its territory. PHOTO: AFP Japan should allow nuclear arms on its soil for effective deterrence: Retired military officers – The volatile security environment facing Japan today has led its military experts to moot an idea that has long been taboo: that its Three Non-Nuclear Principles dating to 1967 should be reviewed. As the world's only country to have suffered atomic bombings, Japan vowed to never possess, produce and permit the introduction of nuclear weapons onto its territory. But retired Self-Defence Forces (SDF) officers have lamented an unofficial fourth principle – never discuss – as they fret over Japan's military preparedness with the country being surrounded by the nuclear-armed states of China, Russia and North Korea, and with the region becoming more turbulent. Japan enjoys the protection of the nuclear umbrella of its security ally the United States. Yet in what has been described as 'perverse logic', the third principle of never permitting nuclear arms on Japanese territory bars the US from bringing such weapons onto Japanese soil and its nuclear-equipped vessels and bombers from travelling through its waters and airspace. These retired officers said that Japan risks hamstringing itself with its antiquated policies. South Korea, another regional US ally, in 2023 resumed allowing American nuclear submarines to make port calls, having previously halted permission in 1981. The most recent call was in February, when the USS Alexandria docked in Busan. 'Both the Japanese government and its people have stopped thinking about the operational aspects of how Japan itself can make the US nuclear umbrella effective,' said a June 2 report released by the Sasakawa Peace Foundation think-tank. Its contributors included retired general Koji Yamazaki, a former Chief of Staff of the Joint Staff of the Japanese military. 'In case of a Taiwan contingency, nuclear-equipped US land, sea, and air forces capable of striking China cannot be deployed or ported in Japan, which undermines our national security interests and reduces the effectiveness of the US extended nuclear deterrence,' the report said. It was referring to the possibility of China attacking the self-ruled island that Beijing claims as its own. 'The principle should be revised to say, 'Do not let (the enemy) strike Japan with nuclear weapons'. The original wording, 'Do not allow nuclear weapons into Japan' is perverse as a security logic,' the report added. Another report in March by eight retired SDF officers, including retired general Ryoichi Oriki, also a former Chief of Staff of the Joint Staff, called for the creation of strategic guidelines on nuclear issues, and the clarification of how Japan can simultaneously pursue the contradictory goals of nuclear deterrence and nuclear disarmament. 'The time has come to fundamentally and comprehensively review our country's nuclear weapon policy,' the report said. These retired officers are planting the seeds for policy change as Tokyo is spooked by developments in its neighbourhood. China, which may possess 1,000 nuclear warheads by 2030, and has in recent years increased its military drills near Taiwan and its grey zone activity against it, could well wage a nuclear war in its bid to reunify the island. North Korea's ballistic missile development continues apace, while Russia has threatened to use its strategic nuclear forces on Ukraine. Events in Asia and beyond have led the US-based Bulletin of the Atomic Scientists to set its Doomsday Clock, which symbolises how close humanity is to its own destruction, at 89 seconds to midnight in January 2025 during its annual review, from the previous 90 seconds. This is the shortest it has ever been. Yet any broaching of the subject of nuclear weapons is taboo to the Japanese public – and would likely amount to political suicide for any politician who does. Security hawks such as the late former prime minister Shinzo Abe had considered revising the Three Non-Nuclear Principles, but eventually backed down. But Japan has refused to sign the 2017 Treaty on the Prohibition of Nuclear Weapons that bans nuclear arms totally and goes further than two older treaties to which it is a signatory. It is undeniable that Japan is at a crossroads of its nuclear policy, 80 years after the US dropped Little Boy and Fat Man on the cities of Hiroshima and Nagasaki respectively. And this is worrisome for the region. On June 6, Foreign Minister Vivian Balakrishnan raised the spectre of North-east Asia being home to five nuclear powers – Russia, China, North Korea, South Korea and Japan – during a discussion at the Hudson Institute think-tank during his working visit to Washington. 'A North-east Asia with five nuclear powers – which in fact has become more, not less likely – is actually a very dangerous circumstance,' he said during a fireside chat with Hudson's Asia-Pacific security chair Patrick Cronin, noting that the weight of Japan's wartime history could be inflammatory. However, he noted that the discussions have been triggered by the turbulence wrought by US President Donald Trump, which has caused allies to reassess the robustness of their security relationships. 'For 80 years, the American security umbrella in North-east Asia in fact has been a key stabiliser for the relationships in a complicated part of the world,' he said. 'One adverse effect of the turbulence, uncertainty in rules, security arrangements, and trust, is that, I fear, other leaders will be having unthinkable thoughts.' Such 'unthinkable thoughts' might include a push towards manufacturing nuclear weapons. Japan is said to own enough stockpiles of plutonium, generated from spent nuclear plant fuel, to quickly produce 7,000 atomic bombs by some estimates. Cabinet Office statistics show that Japan held 44.5 tonnes of plutonium as at December 2023, with 8.6 tonnes stored within the country and 35.8 tonnes kept overseas. Experts, however, see this step as unlikely given that Japan does not have the delivery platforms, which would take decades to either acquire or build. 'Japan needs deterrence to be credible, all of which needs to be developed beyond simply building a warhead,' Professor Heng Yee Kuang of The University of Tokyo's Graduate School of Public Policy told The Straits Times. 'Doctrine would also require attention. This will open an additional can of worms. Will the US help? How might regional partners react, beyond domestic opinion?' he said, noting the worst-case scenario of a destabilising nuclear arms race. The introduction of nuclear weapons, however, is necessary for effective extended deterrence by the US-Japan alliance, the retired SDF officers argue. 'A Taiwan contingency has also been called a Japan contingency or a Japan-US contingency, and this possibility has been increasing,' Gen (Ret) Yamazaki told a Sasakawa Peace Foundation webinar on June 2. 'If China attempts to unify Taiwan by force, it could easily alienate Japan and the US by using tactical nuclear weapons,' he said, adding that the US would clearly be hampered in its deterrence if it did not have nuclear weapons in the neighbourhood. Furthermore, SDF personnel must be trained to deepen their understanding and operational capabilities of nuclear weapons, said retired Lieutenant-General Sadamasa Oue, who was formerly commander of the Air Materiel Command of the Japan Air Self-Defence Force. 'The SDF should be proactive in supporting the US military in their use of nuclear weapons,' he said. 'This will strengthen trust between the two allies.' Walter Sim is Japan correspondent at The Straits Times. Based in Tokyo, he writes about political, economic and socio-cultural issues. Join ST's Telegram channel and get the latest breaking news delivered to you.
New Straits Times
12-06-2025
- Politics
- New Straits Times
Chinese jets fly as close as 45 metres to Japanese patrol planes in Pacific
TOKYO/BEIJING: Chinese fighter jets flew unusually close to Japanese military patrol planes over the Pacific last weekend, Tokyo said, after it spotted two Chinese aircraft carriers simultaneously deployed in the waters for the first time. While Beijing said its military activities were "fully in line with international law" and asked Japan to stop its "dangerous" reconnaissance, Japanese and US officials have seen the jets' actions as another sign of the Chinese military's growing assertiveness beyond its borders. Tokyo has "expressed serious concern ... and solemnly requested prevention of recurrence" to Beijing, Chief Cabinet Secretary Yoshimasa Hayashi said on Thursday, referring to the June 7–8 incidents in which Japan said Chinese jets flew as close as 45 metres (148 feet) to Japanese planes. On Saturday, a Chinese J-15 jet from the aircraft carrier Shandong chased a Japanese P-3C patrol aircraft for about 40 minutes, Japan's defence ministry said. On Sunday, a J-15 chased a P-3C for 80 minutes, crossing in front of the Japanese aircraft at a distance of only 900 metres, it added. A spokesperson at the ministry's Joint Staff Office declined to disclose whether the same planes were involved in the incidents on both days. The P-3C aircraft, belonging to a Japan Maritime Self-Defence Force fleet based on the island of Okinawa, were conducting surveillance over international waters in the Pacific, according to the ministry. "Such abnormal approaches by Chinese military aircraft could potentially cause accidental collisions," the ministry said in a Wednesday statement, attaching close-up images of the missile-armed J-15 jet it took on Sunday. There was no damage to the Japanese planes and crew, it added. In response, China's foreign ministry spokesperson Lin Jian told a regular press conference that "the close-in reconnaissance by Japanese ships and planes of China's normal military activities is the root cause of the risk to maritime and air security. "The Chinese side urges the Japanese side to stop such dangerous behaviour." Earlier this week, Tokyo said the Shandong and another Chinese carrier, the Liaoning, were conducting simultaneous operations in the Pacific for the first time. Beijing has said the operations were a "routine training" exercise that did not target specific countries. The Chinese presence in the sea and airspace in the southeast of the Japanese island chain has put Tokyo and its ally Washington on heightened alert, as Japan pursues its biggest military build-up since World War Two in the wake of the intensifying security environment in East Asia, including over Taiwan. "Our sense of urgency is growing," General Yoshihide Yoshida, Chief of Staff of Japan's Joint Staff, told a briefing. "As evident in the South China Sea, the Chinese military has unilaterally changed the status quo through force wherever their military influence extends ... we will maintain a deterrent posture not to allow these actions normalised," added Yoshida, Japan's highest-ranking uniformed officer. "The recent dangerous manoeuvre by a Chinese fighter jet that put Japanese crewmembers' lives in peril must be another of Beijing's 'good neighbour' efforts," US Ambassador to Japan George Glass said in an X post. "Whether it's harassing Philippine ships, attacking Vietnamese fishermen, or firing flares at Australian aircraft, Beijing knows only reckless aggression," Glass added, citing recent incidents in the South China Sea. In 2014, Tokyo said it spotted Chinese military aircraft flying as close as 30 metres to its military aircraft over the East China Sea and protested to Beijing.
The Star
09-06-2025
- Politics
- The Star
Japan confirms China's aircraft carrier sailed east of Iwo Jima for first time
China's aircraft carrier Liaoning. -- PHOTO: REUTERS TOKYO (Reuters): The Chinese aircraft carrier Liaoning sailed through waters east of the island of Iwo Jima in the Pacific Ocean for the first time, Japan's top government spokesperson said on Monday (June 9). Japan would strengthen surveillance and gather necessary information, Chief Cabinet Secretary Yoshimasa Hayashi told a regular press briefing in Tokyo. Japan has also sent "an appropriate message" to China, Hayashi said without elaborating. Iwo Jima is located 1,000 km (620 miles) south of Tokyo. A statement by Japan's Joint Staff over the weekend said that the Liaoning, accompanied by some other ships, sailed in the sea within Japan's exclusive economic zone near Minamitorishima, a remote island east of Iwo Jima. Japan also confirmed fighter jets and helicopters taking off and landing from Liaoning in the waters southeast of Iwo Jima on Sunday. China's foreign ministry on Monday defended the aircraft carrier's voyage as "fully in line with international law and practice." Ministry spokesperson Lin Jian told a regular press briefing that China had "always pursued a defensive national defence policy" and urged Japan to look at the issue "objectively and rationally." (Reporting by Mariko Katsumura; Additional reporting by Liz Lee in Beijing; Editing by Kate Mayberry) - Reuters
