Tokyo (AsiaNews /
Agencies) - Beijing has sent some ships to the territorial waters surrounding a
group of disputed islands in the East China Sea at the center of a dispute with
Japan. This
is the first incursion since the Japanese elections which saw the triumph of
the "hawk" and conservative Shinzo Abe, of the Liberal Party (LDP). From
now on the new Tokyo
leadership has made it clear that the Chinese
challenge "must be stopped", although it is also our duty to construct
"good relations in the national interest of both countries." However,
the dispute around the islands, known as Senkaku in Japan
and Diaoyu in China,
threatens to plunge already strained relations.
Japan's
coast guard reported that three Chinese patrol boats entered in the 12 nautical
miles around the Senkaku
Islands, and in addition,
there is also a group of fishing vessels stationed in adjacent waters. It
is the 19th time that Beijing has sent boats to
the area, since Tokyo
nationalized the atolls last September. Experts
believe it is a Chinese show of strength to prove they can "come and go
from the area as they please."
Tensions
have peaked since 13 December last when Tokyo
scrmbled fighter jets after a Chinese aircraft entered the airspace of the
Senkaku / Diaoyu, for the first time since 1958. For
several months, Tokyo and Beijing
have been staging a tug of war over the sovereignty of this group of islands in
the East China Sea, sending ships,
coastguards, fishing boats and now planes. Asian
policy experts argue that Beijing
"will not compromise" and intends to "keep up the
pressure."
The
new Communist leadership headed by President Xi Jinping does not seem to be
willing to close the territorial disputes in a peaceful manner, involving various
strategic areas of Asia and the Pacific. Beijing's
latest weapon of choice is that of science. A
11-page
report presented to the UN asserts that "the appearance and geological
features show that the islands are part of the fault line of China's mainland territory." It
is an attempt to undermine the legal system of territorial waters and of international
organizations.