Japan to station coastguard vessel at Ogasawara Islands to counter Chinese ships

The move is seen as a response to China dispatching research vessels near Okinotorishima, a rocky atoll which Japan claims as an island

This could leave Tokyo and Beijing in a stand-off similar to the situation around the Diaoyu, or Senkaku Islands in the East China Sea

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Japan’s Coast Guard announced it would deploy a patrol vessel to the Ogasawara Islands in the coming months and will also increase the number of officers stationed at the islands. Photo: Xinhua

Published: 7:00am, 9 Feb 2021Updated: 12:24am, 10 Feb 2021

Japan will for the first time station a coastguard patrol vessel in the Ogasawara Islands, about 1,000km south of Tokyo, in a move to discourage illegal fishing in its waters and enable it to quickly respond to surveillance and research by foreign ships.

Analysts believe Tokyo’s decision is in response to China dispatching deep-sea research vessels to waters surrounding Okinotorishima, a rocky atoll 967km further south of the islands and a source of controversy between Japan and some of its neighbours.

The Japan Coast Guard announced it would deploy the 180-ton patrol vessel Mikazuki to the Ogasawara Islands in the coming months and will also increase the number of officers stationed there. Previously, the coastguard has had to respond to incidents near the islands by dispatching a vessel from its headquarters in Yokohama, just south of Tokyo.

Okinotorishima is 1,740km south of Tokyo.

In late 2014, over 1,000 foreign fishing boats – most believed to be Chinese – were identified poaching in waters around the islands, many dredging for endangered coral. Several boats refused to allow Japanese inspectors to board to verify their cargoes, but officers eventually made 11 arrests.

The government has since increased the maximum fines for operating illicitly in Japan’s exclusive economic zone (EEZ) from 10 million yen (US$94,782) to 30 million yen (US$284,347), while the fine for refusing an inspection has risen from 300,000 yen (US$2,843) to 3 million yen (US$28,434).