Expert refutes Japan's questioning of Chinese, Russian fleets sailing around Japan

Source
China Military Online
Editor
Li Jiayao
Time
2021-10-26 22:41:32

BEIJING, Oct. 26 -- Recently, some Japanese politicians have frequently made indiscreet remarks about the Taiwan question and hyped up “China threat theory” on maritime issues. This happened again at the 17th Beijing-Tokyo Forum held on October 25, where Chinese expert refuted some baseless remarks and doubts made by the Japanese side.

The first China-Russia joint maritime cruise wrapped up days ago, during which the Chinese and Russian navies, in strict accordance with relevant provisions of the international law, didn’t enter the territorial sea of any country. However, when Katsutoshi Kawano, former Chief of Staff of the Japan Self-Defense Forces’ Joint Staff , mentioned this during the Q&A session of the forum. He said that the Chinese and Russian fleets sailing around Japan is something Japan doesn’t want to see. As for the resolution of Taiwan question, if China decides to resort to force, Japan will react accordingly.

In face of the Japanese side’s fallacies, Yao Yunzhu, senior advisor to the China Association of Military Science, pointed out that the US military has a permanent principle that as long as the international law permits, it would send its vessels to all oceans, aircraft to all airspace, and carry out military operations in all regions. Would Japan oppose this principle too? Besides, Chinese and Russian vessels have not entered the territorial sea of any other country during the recent joint cruise, strictly observing the international law.

According to Yao, China has explained many times that its naval strategy is “inshore defense, offshore protection ”. China never wishes to seek maritime domination or control around the world, but is only performing inshore defense and protecting its territorial sovereignty and maritime rights.

On the Taiwan question, when the diplomatic relations between China and Japan were normalized in 1972, a joint statement signed by the two governments clearly stated that the Japanese government recognizes the government of the People's Republic of China as the sole legal government of China. The Chinese government has always insisted that Taiwan is an inalienable part of the territory of the People's Republic of China. The Japanese government had promised to fully understand and respect this position of the Chinese government and adhere to the position of Article 8 of the Potsdam Proclamation.

In response to the present remarks made by the Japanese side, Yao stressed that China is always trying to realize the peaceful reunification of Taiwan, but it doesn’t give up the right to use force – a policy that still holds today. When China and Japan forged diplomatic ties, Japan was very clear about China’s stance on the Taiwan question.

As for Japan’s so-called “reacting accordingly”, Yao asked about the exact meaning of the Japanese side’s statement. “Does it mean that Japan would fight for Taiwan together with the US and provide logistic support for the US when it carried out military operations in the Taiwan region, or simply take unilateral actions?”The Beijing-Tokyo Forum has been held for 17 years with the goal of preventing another war between China and Japan. If Japan changed its Taiwan policy and deviated from the original intention of forming diplomatic ties with China, Yao asked, “How could we ensure the realization of the goal that we’ve been pursuing for 17 years?”

What’s more, it’s also worth noting that the US had promised to provide nuclear-powered submarine technology to Australia under the new defense partnership, AUKUS, among Britain, the US and Australia. Yao asked what the Japanese side thought about this. “Has Tokyo ever thought that such a move would be detrimental to regional peace and stability and threaten the international nuclear non-proliferation system?”

It is learnt that the Beijing-Tokyo Forum was initiated in 2005 and is held alternately in Beijing and Tokyo every year. Having been held 17 times, the forum has become a comprehensive platform of official and public exchanges featuring a high level and a large scale. It has played an important role in promoting the healthy and stable development of China-Japan relations and deepening the mutual understanding and trust between the peoples of the two countries.

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