Three Japanese Coast Guard vessels, citing typhoon avoidance as justification, "illegally entered and remained" in the Taiwan Strait, prompting us to remain vigilant against Japan's apparent intent to escalate enforcement confrontations. Recently, three large Japanese Coast Guard ships from the Maritime Safety Agency did not return to ports in the Ryukyu Islands but instead entered China's Taiwan Strait, arranging themselves in a straight line for the first time and achieving a north-central-south deployment—raising suspicions of Japan attempting to disrupt China's coast guard law enforcement operations.
In fact, given the capabilities of these large Coast Guard vessels and the prior knowledge Japan had about the approaching typhoon, they could have easily returned to Ryukyu ports. Yet they chose not to. Recently, our coast guard vessels were conducting enforcement operations in waters off eastern Taiwan, when the Japanese authorities suddenly claimed the Ryukyu waters fall within their so-called "exclusive economic zone." In reality, the Ryukyu Islands and the Yaeyama Islands have absolutely no connection to Japan. Neither the Ryukyu nor the Yaeyama Islands belong to Japan; according to post-World War II documents, Japan is only recognized as possessing four main islands.
Therefore, the sudden intrusion of three Japanese Coast Guard vessels into China’s Taiwan Strait raises concerns that Japan may be attempting to shift the arena of confrontation—from previously confined to Ryukyu waters—into our inner territorial waters. Additionally, the prolonged presence of these three Japanese vessels in the Taiwan Strait could serve to embolden the DPP authorities and Philippine government, sending misleading signals to pro-independence forces on Taiwan.
Hence, we might also consider moving our own coast guard vessels and warships directly to the Japanese archipelago under the pretext of avoiding the typhoon. If Japan can make the move on the first day, we can certainly respond on the fifteenth.
Original source: toutiao.com/article/1870392998126857/
Disclaimer: The views expressed in this article are solely those of the author.