China launches naval exercises near the Senkaku islands
Beijing (AsiaNews/Agencies) - The Chinese navy has launched a series of military exercises in the East China Sea, a move that could exacerbate tensions with Japan over the sovereignty over the Senkaku Islands, which the Chinese call Diaoyu.
According to a dispatch from Xinhua, the exercises aim to coordinate "the protection of the Chinese territory"; they involve 11 ships, eight aircraft, and several fishing vessels.
"When carrying out missions in disputed waters", Xinhua reports, "patrol vessels of the fishery administration and marine surveillance agency have been stalked, harassed and even intentionally interfered with by foreign vessels, greatly challenging their duties."
The exercises are likely to cause even further tension in the relations between Tokyo and Beijing, after the purchase of the Senkaku Islands by the Japanese government, which sparked a series of violent demonstrations in China against the patriotic symbols of the Japanese presence.
Osamu Fujimura, secretary of the government of Tokyo, said they had few details about the exercises and declined to comment. Beijing has not specified either the time, nor the exact location of the exercises.
Both governments fear that if the tensions continue, there will be significant damage to their respective economies. Japan is the largest investor in China, while the latter is Japan's biggest trading partner. Their trade balance is worth 0 billion.
The disputed islands (Senkaku to the Japanese, Diaoyu to the Chinese) are rich in fishing and are located at strategic points for trade routes. Since the late 60s, studies have revealed the presence of huge deposits of oil and gas. Since then China - which in the past had never claimed sovereignty over the islets (five, plus three atolls) - has begun a diplomatic and political battle to take them back. Japan claims that the Senkaku have been under its undisputed jurisdiction since 1895. It lost authority over the islands after the Second World War, and had them returned by the United States in 1972.
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03/05/2021 09:59
