Source:
https://scmp.com/week-asia/politics/article/3161163/japan-simulated-foreign-invasion-diaoyu-islands-east-china-sea
This Week in Asia/ Politics

Japan simulated ‘foreign’ invasion of Diaoyu Islands in East China Sea with drill involving Self-Defence Forces, coastguard and police

  • Tokyo initially said the drill in Nagasaki prefecture on November 20 was ‘not intended for a specific island or a country’
  • But government sources said the island used resembled one of the Diaoyu/Senkaku islets, which are controlled by Japan but claimed by China
Japanese vessel JS Oumi and the American cutter USCGC Munro during a bilateral exercise in the East China Sea in August. Photo: Handout

Japan conducted a drill last month at a remote southwestern island under the assumption that foreign forces had occupied Japanese-administered islands claimed by China, known as Diaoyu/Senkaku.

Several government sources told Kyodo News that a drill involving the Self-Defence Forces (Japan’s de facto military), coastguard and police took place at an uninhabited island in Nagasaki prefecture with land features resembling Uotsuri Island, one of the islets that make up the Diaoyu/Senkaku islands in the East China Sea.

Following the two-day drill from November 20 on Tsutara Island in Goto, Nagasaki prefecture, the government had said the exercise was aimed at improving Japan’s response to emergency situations in the country’s island areas, and was “not intended for a specific island or a country.”

But the sources told Kyodo the aim was to improve cooperation between the MSDF and coastguard to prepare for “grey zone” situations that stop short of a full-fledged military attack on Japan.

Garren Mulloy, a professor of international relations specialising in security issues at Daito Bunka University in Saitama prefecture, said the exercise was a “much-needed and positive development” from a Japanese perspective.

“This was not so much about landing drills carried out by Japan’s amphibious rapid deployment brigade because they have done those exercises before,” he said.

Till now, the SDF and coastguard had had different plans for dealing with a potential encroachment by foreign forces, he said.

“They have not been as interconnected as they needed to be. Now, they are trying to determine exactly when the line is going to be drawn operationally,” he said.

The Diaoyu Islands are a group of uninhabited islets situated about 170km northeast of Taiwan’s northern tip.

Relations between Japan and China have been frayed over the islets and comments made by political leaders such as ex-prime minister Shinzo Abe on the self-ruled island of Taiwan.

Beijing has sent coastguard ships to the disputed islets, raising alarm in Tokyo over a possible occupation of the islets by China’s maritime militia, who researchers say are fishing crew operating alongside official vessels.

China passed a law early this year that allows its coastguard to fire on foreign vessels in disputed waters.

China’s PLA Eastern theatre command performed a military drill in the East China Sea on August 27. Photo: Handout
China’s PLA Eastern theatre command performed a military drill in the East China Sea on August 27. Photo: Handout

The sources told Kyodo that the Japanese government selected Tsutara to hold the drill because its coastal shape and its steep cliffs are similar to the characteristics of Uotsuri.

Using helicopters and boats, members of the different units held landing drills and went over the roles and coordination of different entities, including a remote-island defence unit of the Ground Self-Defence Force, they said.

The 11th Regional Coast Guard Headquarters based in Naha, Okinawa prefecture and the prefectural police’s team tasked with guarding remote islands also joined the exercise.

In Japan, the coastguard and the police are in charge of maintaining the security of territorial land and waters, but the SDF will step in when a situation escalates. Under Japan’s post-war pacifist constitution, its military is limited to defensive actions only.

The Cabinet Secretariat said on November 22 that about 400 people participated in the drill, marking the first time that the government had revealed that an exercise involving the SDF, the coastguard and police took place.

Japan has so far tried to use the coastguard to respond to intrusions by Chinese government ships or civilian vessels, such as fishing boats, with Japanese warships held in reserve. In practice, a lack of coordination has led to delays in the passing along of information, which inevitably means that the maritime SDF might be slow to respond to a more serious incident should its presence be required, Mulloy said.

A Japan Ground Self-Defence Force (JGSDF) Assault Amphibious Vehicle (AAV7) during a joint exercise by the Japan Self-Defence Forces (JSDF) off the coast of Tanegashima island in Kagoshima on November 25. Photo: Bloomberg
A Japan Ground Self-Defence Force (JGSDF) Assault Amphibious Vehicle (AAV7) during a joint exercise by the Japan Self-Defence Forces (JSDF) off the coast of Tanegashima island in Kagoshima on November 25. Photo: Bloomberg

“There has not been enough ‘joined-up thinking’ to date and it’s very important that they do that sooner rather than later,” he added.

Tokyo’s realisation that it needs to improve operational interconnectivity between its front-line units was underlined by more drills last week in waters south of the capital.

The exercise simulated two coastguard vessels attempting to halt a Chinese military vessel approaching the Diaoyu/Senkaku islands, but needing to summon MSDF units to assist in the confrontation.

The manoeuvres were conducted off the Izu chain of islands, with one selected to represent one of the Diaoyu/Senkaku islets. The exercise required the coastguard vessels to interdict the ship playing the part of a Chinese warship and to force it to leave the area. When that effort failed, the coastguard was required to summon two MSDF destroyers to prevent the Chinese vessel coming any closer to Japanese territory.