Tag - disputed-islands

 
 

DISPUTED ISLANDS

Yonaguni Island in Okinawa Prefecture. China has removed its last buoy from Japanese economic waters near the island.
JAPAN
May 29, 2025
Tokyo says China has removed its last buoy from Japan's economic waters
Japanese media said this could signal an intention by Beijing to improve strained ties with Tokyo.
A KJ-500 early warning plane, along with Y-20 transport aircraft, are parked on the tarmac of an airfield on Woody Island, in the disputed Paracel archipelago in the South China Sea, on May 19.
ASIA PACIFIC
May 29, 2025
China's most advanced bombers seen on disputed South China Sea island
Some analysts described the move as Beijing's latest signalling of its growing military capabilities to rivals.
Japan Coast Guard on Monday spotted a Chinese maritime survey vessel "extending what appeared to be a wire into the waters in Japan's exclusive economic zone (EEZ) 270 kilometers east of Okinotori island," government spokesman Yoshimasa Hayashi said.
JAPAN
May 27, 2025
Japan says China conducted research near Pacific atoll
The alleged activity took place on Monday near the remote atoll of Okinotori in the Philippine Sea.
Philippine President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. (center), locks hands with Malaysian Prime Minister Anwar Ibrahim (left) and Sultan of Brunei Hassanal Bolkiah during a group photo at an Association of Southeast Asian Nations summit in Kuala Lumpur on Monday.
ASIA PACIFIC / Politics / ANALYSIS
May 27, 2025
As ASEAN touts unity, Philippines seeks consensus on South China Sea
Manila’s call on the 10-member bloc comes as the situation between China and the Philippines has turned particularly tense.
The Chinese aircraft carrier Liaoning sails through the Miyako Strait in Okinawa Prefecture on its way to the Pacific in April 2021.
JAPAN
May 26, 2025
Chinese aircraft carrier conducts fighter jet operations in East China Sea
This was the first time Japan announced that the Liaoning aircraft carrier was conducting training in the area home to the disputed Senkaku Islands.
Chief Cabinet Secretary Yoshimasa Hayashi speaks at a news conference in Tokyo on Wednesday.
JAPAN
May 15, 2025
Russia to conduct drill in waters near disputed island off Hokkaido
The Japanese government has lodged a protest with Russia over the planned drills near Shikotan.
A Japan Coast Guard vessel sails in front of the Uotsuri islet, one of the Japanese-controlled Senkaku Islands. Concerns are growing in Tokyo after a Chinese government helicopter violated Japan's airspace around the uninhabited islets.
JAPAN / FOCUS
May 12, 2025
Escalation fears rise in Japan following Chinese moves near Senkakus
Beijing sent a government helicopter to the area for the first time, while Chinese government ships have been spotted in the area for more than 170 straight days.
Philippine Army Brig. Gen. Michael Logico, who was involved in managing the latest iteration of the Balikatan U.S.-Philippine drills, told The Japan Times that he expects military ties with Japan to surge even further once Tokyo ratifies a key visiting-forces agreement with Manila.
JAPAN
May 12, 2025
Japan set for bigger role in Philippines after SDF’s debut in key drills
A top Philippine general has said he expects the Self-Defense Forces’ involvement in both bilateral and multilateral activities to grow substantially.
A Japan Coast Guard vessel sails in front of Uotsuri Island, one of the disputed Senkaku Islands in the East China Sea, in 2013.
JAPAN
May 11, 2025
Chinese research ship spotted in Japanese EEZ
The research ship sailed out of the Japan-China median line at about 1:20 p.m. after it was asked by a JCG patrol ship by radio to stop operating.
A China Coast Guard helicopter is seen near the Japanese-controlled Senkaku Islands in the East China Sea on Saturday.
JAPAN
May 3, 2025
China Coast Guard helicopter enters Japanese airspace near Senkakus
The incursion near the Japanese-controlled, Chinese-claimed islands on Saturday was just the fourth such flight by Chinese aircraft since the end of World War II.
Chinese H-6 bombers fly at the eastern edge of the disputed Scarborough Shoal in the South China Sea on March 24.
ASIA PACIFIC / Politics
Apr 30, 2025
Chinese navy patrols South China Sea, saying Philippines creating 'disturbances'
China, which claims almost the entirety of the South China Sea, has been involved in an increasingly tense stand-off with the Philippines.
China Coast Guard officers unfurl a national flag on Sandy Cay reef, near the Philippine-held Thitu Island, in disputed waters of the South China Sea this month in this screen shot taken from Chinese state broadcaster CCTV.
ASIA PACIFIC
Apr 27, 2025
China seizes disputed reef near key Philippine military outpost
Beijing's focus on claiming sovereignty over Sandy Cay reef in the South China Sea adds to fears over a clash with Manila.
Chinese H-6 bombers (top right) are seen flying near the eastern edge of the disputed Scarborough Shoal in the South China Sea on March 24.
ASIA PACIFIC
Apr 21, 2025
Chinese Navy says Philippine warship 'illegally entered' Scarborough Shoal waters
Sunday's incident was a rare instance involving the militaries of both countries, and came amid fears that a clash or accident could erupt into a full-blown conflict.
Chinese H-6 bombers fly at the eastern edge of the disputed Scarborough Shoal in the South China Sea on March 24.
ASIA PACIFIC / Politics
Apr 16, 2025
Philippines and China accuse each other of dangerous moves in disputed South China Sea shoal
China claims nearly the entire South China Sea, a vital waterway for more than $3 trillion of annual ship-borne commerce.
Prime Minister Shigeru Ishiba speaks in a video message shown at a national rally demanding the return of the Northern Territories held in Tokyo in February.
JAPAN
Apr 7, 2025
Russia bans Japanese NGO amid disputed islands row
The four islands were captured by the Soviet military during the final months of the war, and have been held by Moscow since, in what Tokyo describes as an "illegal occupation."
A Chinese H-6 bomber flies east of the disputed Scarborough Shoal in the South China Sea on Monday.
ASIA PACIFIC
Mar 29, 2025
Satellite images show fresh Chinese bomber deployment in South China Sea
The move was Beijing's latest to assert sovereignty over the hotly disputed atoll in the South China Sea.
Some South Korean lawmakers have called the Chinese presence in nearby waters a "direct challenge to marine security."
ASIA PACIFIC / Politics
Mar 27, 2025
South Korea installs platform to monitor Chinese presence in disputed sea
China says its structures in the sea are fish farming equipment, but they have raised alarm bells in Seoul.
Japan, despite facing multiple territorial disputes, lacks a dedicated university program on the issue, unlike Western countries, and would benefit from an interdisciplinary academic initiative to foster expertise.
COMMENTARY / Japan
Mar 17, 2025
Japan needs academic programs focused on territorial issues
While many countries have territorial disputes with their neighbors — in fact, there are at least 150 active disputes worldwide — Japan faces issues with nearly all its neighbors.
Concept art for the renewed National Museum of Territory and Sovereignty
JAPAN
Mar 10, 2025
Japan's territory museum to reopen in April following renovations
The museum in Tokyo's Chiyoda Ward is designed to publicize Japan's position on disputed territories.
A Chinese People's Liberation Army Navy helicopter is seen from aboard a Philippine Bureau of Fisheries and Aquatic Resources (BFAR) aircraft in the skies above Scarborough Shoal in the disputed South China Sea on Feb. 18.
ASIA PACIFIC / Politics
Feb 26, 2025
Standoff in the skies: Witnessing an unsafe intercept over the South China Sea
A Chinese military helicopter edged dangerously close to a Philippine plane on patrol over the flash point Scarborough Shoal, an incident witnessed by The Japan Times.

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