Five Years from Senkaku Nationalization

Five years have passed since Japanese government nationalized Senkaku Islands, of which China recently claims its ownership. Against the purpose of the policy, Japan’s severingty on the islands has been threatened by consecutive and consistent violation of territory by Chinese ships. Taking advantage of the opportunity, China tries to control the sea within the First Island Chain including Okinawa, Taiwan or Philippine.

It was 2010 when dispute over Senkaku loomed in the relationship between Japan and China. A Chinese fishery boat collided with a patrol ship of Japan Coast Guard on the sea around Senkaku Island. While 11^th Regional Coast Guard Headquarters arrested the captain of fish boat with suspicion of obstruction of official duties execution, Naha Regional Prosecutors Office released him with reason of “consideration of impact on the relation between Japan and China. Then administration led by Democratic Party of Japan was accused of its weak attitude by the conservatives.

Radical conservative governor of Tokyo, Shintaro Ishihara, fundamentally made the matter worse in 2012. In his speech in Washington DC, Ishihara announced his plan that Tokyo Metropolitan Government would purchase Senkaku Islands to build port and lighthouse for Japanese fishing boats working around the islands. To avoid negative diplomatic impact, Prime Minister Yoshihiko Noda decided that Japanese government would own the islands on September 11^th, 2012.

Although Japanese government explained that the decision was to stabilize the situation around the islands rather than the ownership of regional government led by the ultra-conservative governor, or to shift the ownership from the private to the nation, China was too frustrated to accept it. Chinese government started sending official ships around Senkaku, invading Japan’s territorial sea with unilateral reasoning of historical ownership of China on Senkakus.

Before the nationalization of Senkaku, such invasions were nothing to two times every year. After 2012, those violations increased 73 to 180 times per year. Chinese ships around there became bigger, up to 3,000 tons, or stronger loading cannons. Scrambles of Japanese fighter jet against Chinese military aircrafts in 2012 exceeded those against Russians, counting 306 times. It increased to 851 times in 2016.

Japan Coast Guard deployed 10 major patrol ships in Ishigaki Island to deal with Chinese approach to Senkaku. Japanese Ground Self-defense Force established observation troops in Yoaguni Island, located 150 kilometers from Senkaku. While it had to deal with missile and nuclear threat from North Korea, Japan was suffering from consistent invasion of China.