Journal of International Studies

BEIJING, Nov. 11 (Yonhap) -- China on Monday warned Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe against regarding Beijing as its rival to bolster its security role in the region, saying the move would be a "wrong choice and wrong calculation." China's foreign ministry spokesman Qin Gang made the remark in response to reported comments by Abe, who cited China's rise and North Korea's nuclear threats as key reasons to create a U.S.-style national security council in Japan. "Japan provokes China over and over again. What on earth does Japan really want to do?" Qin told reporters in unusually frank words. "If Japan insists on taking China as a rival, it would make a wrong choice and make a wrong calculation," Qin said. China and Japan have been locked in a bitter dispute over a set of islands in the East China Sea, which are known as Diaoyu in China and Senkaku in Japan. Tension sparked in September last year when the Tokyo government purcha...

In recent weeks, the standoff over the Senkaku/Diaoyu islands  has taken to the air . On Sept. 9, manned Chinese bombers flew near Okinawa, but did not cross into Japanese airspace. The next day, a UAV, believed to be a Chinese BZK-005, was spotted near the Senkaku/Diaoyus, prompting Tokyo to deploy fighters to shadow the aircraft. A few weeks later, Prime Minister Shinzo Abe  granted approval  to the Japanese Ministry of Defense to shoot down any drones that ignore warnings to leave Japanese airspace. Then, on October 27, Chinese bombers and surveillance aircraft passed through the Miyako Strait en route to the Pacific, which  Japan’s Minister of Defense called  “an example of China’s aggressive expansion of its active range that includes the ocean.” And in the most recent development, a former PLA commander announced that Japan shooting down a drone would be considered an act of war.  Tensions have, of course, been running high between Beiji...

In recent media statements, Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe reiterated that Japan has to increase its defense preparedness to secure Japan from threats, and to allow it to play a greater role in international security. Abe explicitly warned that Japan would not allow China to make any changes by force to the territorial status quo of the region. In doing so, he raised the prospect of Chinese drones being shot down over Japanese territory, to which China angrily responded that any such action would be an act of war. This escalation of rhetoric over the disputed Senkaku Islands, claimed as the Diaoyus by China (and Taiwan), continues the near-constant confrontation between maritime security forces of China and Japan in the waters and skies surrounding the islands in the East China Sea. The tension has only increased since the former Democratic Party of Japan government nationalized the islands, purchasing them from private owners in September last year. China and Japan have w...

Japan’s Defense Ministry has received approval from Prime Minister Shinzo Abe for its plans to intercept and shoot down any foreign drones that ignore initial warnings to leave Japanese airspace. Abe’s approval of the plan asserts Japan’s readiness to respond unilaterally to protect its sovereignty and territorial integrity. The move is the latest  in a series of pronouncements and provocations  by both China and Japan over the Senkaku/Diaoyu territorial dispute. Japan controversially purchased some of the islands in 2012, which thrust the long-unsettled dispute to the forefront of China-Japan relations, which have been strained ever since. On Sept. 9, a day after manned Chinese bombers flew near Okinawa, a Chinese military drone  was observed  nearby. The Japanese Defense Ministry  dispatched fighters to shadow  the manned bomber aircraft, which refrained from entering Japanese airspace. It used a similar procedure for the drone, which is be...

Some Monday defense and security links: According to the  Global Times , a Chinese Defense Ministry spokesperson defended Beijing’s drone flights as consistent with international law, and said that any attempt by Japan to shoot down a drone would be a “severe provocation” and an act of war. South Korea hopes to deploy two light aircraft carriers by 2036  Defense News reported , citing comments made by parliamentarian Rep. Chung Hee-soo during the confirmation hearing for the new chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff. According to report, the ROK Navy hopes to deploy the 30,000-ton light aircraft carriers between 2028 and 2036. The aircraft carriers will be similar to Italy’s Cavour, which can support about 30 aircraft. In any interview with  The Washington Post , Taiwanese President Ma Ying-jeou said he hopes to expand ties with China while reiterating Taipei’s desire to purchase submarines from the U.S., which he called “vital for maintaining effective deterre...

The past few weeks have seen reports that a  top Chinese official  visited Japan to discuss how to alleviate tensions in the Senkaku/Diaoyu dispute. Beijing’s secret envoy is said to have met with a  high-level official from the Japanese Foreign Ministry. Rumors suggest that the two governments may have exchanged envoys on the islands dispute several times over the last few months. Beijing and Tokyo had, apparently, hoped to work towards a bilateral summit on the Senkaku/Diaoyu, although they failed to find sufficient common ground to make that possible in their last exchange. But the fact that the two states are not proceeding quickly to a more public forum should not distress us too mightily: there are at least three good reasons why we should hope that secret diplomacy between China and Japan continues, and why it may be particularly crucial in a conflict like the Senkaku/Diaoyu dispute.  First, as has been obvious since 2010, the dispute over the Senk...