Chinese, Japanese Boats In Tense Standoff Near Disputed Islands As Taiwan-Related Feud Escalates

The severe diplomatic standoff which was triggered by last month’s words of Japanese Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi wherein she suggested Japan would militarily aid in Taiwan’s defense in the event of a Chinese invasion is increasingly becoming a potential military standoff. We earlier detailed that Japan has even deployed medium-range missiles to a remote Japanese island not far from China.

Already there’s been a confrontation involving China’s coast guard boats, which attempted to run off a Japanese fishing vessel for allegedly being inside claimed Chinese waters. The fresh incident happened near a group of geopolitically sensitive islands in the East China Sea on Tuesday.

The Japanese boat is accused of entering the waters of the Diaoyu Islands – which Tokyo calls the Senkaku Islands and has long administered. 

But a nearby Japanese Coast Guard ship which had been accompanying the fishing vessel then in turn expelled two Chinese Coast Guard ships as they approached and tried to enforce Beijing’s expansive maritime claims over the territory.

The area is already a bit of a flashpoint between the two historic rivals, as Taiwan is located just less than 100 miles southwest of the Senkaku Islands. There are conflicting accounts of the incident, with the Chinese side relating as follows:

China Coast Guard (CCG) spokesperson Liu Dejun said that Chinese vessels on Tuesday approached and warned off a Japanese fishing boat that had “illegally entered the territorial waters of China’s Diaoyu Dao”, according to a state media report.

Liu added that the CCG took “necessary law enforcement measures”, claiming that the islands were Chinese territory and urging Japan to “immediately stop all acts of infringement and provocation in these waters”.

However, Japan has countered that its coast guard boats approached the Chinese vessels shortly after they were seen breaching Japanese waters and issued warnings and threats demanding they leave sovereign waters.

The current broader standoff over PM Takaichi’s Taiwan comments is now trickling down to the common populations on either side, as events like concerts have been canceled:

The abrupt cancellations of several Japanese music events in Shanghai – one of them midway through a song – have sparked criticism among fans, with some calling the moves “rude” and “extreme”.

Maki Otsuki was halfway through the theme of hit anime One Piece on Friday when the lights and music went off, after which she was rushed off stage by two crew members.

On Saturday, pop star Ayumi Hamasaki performed to an empty 14,000-seat stadium after organizers axed her concert in Shanghai, citing “force majeure”.

This spate of cancellations come as diplomatic tensions between Beijing and Tokyo fester over Japanese Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi’s remarks on Taiwan.

China earlier warned Japan will suffer a “crushing” defeat if it ever decided to directly intervene in the Taiwan dispute. Recent years have also seen Beijing’s anger grow after NATO briefly talked about opening an official office in Tokyo, but these plans were soon abandoned for the time being.

Last month China’s foreign ministry warned that “Right-wing forces in Japan are … leading Japan and the region toward disaster.“ Foreign ministry spokesperson Mao Ning further told a regular news briefing. Beijing “is determined and capable of safeguarding its national territorial sovereignty.”