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Diaoyu/Senkaku Islands

Japan’s Coast Guard and Maritime Self-Defense Force: Cooperation among Siblings

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This MAP Analysis is a preview of the author’s forthcoming article in the January issue of Asia Policy. Coping with “gray zone” situations has in recent years become the core security challenge for Japan. Since September 2012, Beijing has been challenging Japan’s sovereign control of the Senkaku Islands by regularly sending law-enforcement vessels into Japanese territorial waters and contiguous zones. Beijing sends civilian or paramilitary forces to change facts on the ground while daring the targeted country to use force to stop these activities. These incursions, which do not amount to an armed attack, are blurring the line between crime… Read More »Japan’s Coast Guard and Maritime Self-Defense Force: Cooperation among Siblings

China-Russia Naval Cooperation in East Asia: Implications for Japan

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During the evening of June 8, 2016, three Russian naval vessels, including a destroyer, entered the contiguous zone around the Senkaku/Diaoyu Islands in the East China Sea. Shortly afterward, a Chinese frigate also entered the area and proceeded toward the Russian ships, as if intending to meet with them. This represented the first instance of a Chinese military vessel entering the contiguous zone around the Japanese-administered Senkaku Islands, which are claimed by China as the Diaoyu Islands. Just as worrying, it appeared to show that Russia, which officially remains neutral with regard to the territorial dispute, had begun to coordinate… Read More »China-Russia Naval Cooperation in East Asia: Implications for Japan