Tag - senkakus

 
 

SENKAKUS

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.
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.
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.
China frequently shifts between warming and freezing relations with Japan, driven by its domestic issues, often using softer rhetoric while masking aggressive actions.
COMMENTARY / Japan
Feb 14, 2025
Are China-Japan relations truly 'warming,' or is this just fool’s gold again?
As the trade war between the U.S. and China heats up, Beijing is turning to its familiar playbook, using softer language to court American allies and partners while offering things like greater cooperation and more dialogue — part of its ongoing divide-and-conquer strategy.
Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesperson Guo Jiakun
JAPAN / Politics
Feb 12, 2025
China removes buoy in Japan's EEZ near Senkakus amid warming ties
The buoy’s removal comes as Beijing looks to further improve relations with Tokyo — and drive a wedge between the U.S. and Japan.
Prime Minister Shigeru Ishiba speaks during an Upper House plenary session in Tokyo on Wednesday.
JAPAN / Politics
Jan 31, 2025
Ishiba aims to get assurances from Trump over Senkaku Islands
Ishiba also said he intends to seek assistance from Trump in resolving the issue of Japanese nationals kidnapped by North Korea decades ago.
Defense Minister Gen Nakatani speaks to reporters at the parliamentary building on Friday.
JAPAN / Politics
Jan 31, 2025
Top U.S. and Japan defense officials agree to beef up military ties
The newly appointed U.S. Secretary of Defense, Pete Hegseth, confirmed that the U.S.-Japan defense treaty covers the uninhabited Senkaku Islands in the East China Sea.
A Japan Coast Guard vessel sails in front of Uotsuri island, one of the disputed Senkaku Islands, which are claimed by Beijing as the and Diaoyu, in the East China Sea in August 2013.
JAPAN
Dec 29, 2024
Chinese government vessels seen near Senkakus for record 353 days in 2024
The record comes as Beijing continues to ramp up its activities near the tiny islets that it also claims in the East China Sea.
Greenpeace activists protest next to a fake whale's tail in front of the Japanese Embassy in Berlin in 2010. The real motivation behind Japan's whaling may lie in asserting its maritime sovereignty, as the country defends its exclusive economic zone amid territorial disputes.
COMMENTARY / Japan
Dec 19, 2024
For Japan, whaling is intertwined with maritime sovereignty
While Japan has an undeniable culture surrounding seafood, the current generation of people do not show much interest in whale meat.
The U.S. decision to suspend the use of a firing range in the Senkakus has had lasting consequences, undermining Japan's claims to the islets and sending mixed signals about U.S. support for Japanese sovereignty over the area.
COMMENTARY / Japan
Dec 10, 2024
A restart of Senkaku firing ranges is long overdue
The suspension also had strategic consequences, depriving both U.S. and Japanese forces of vital military training ranges.
NHK President Nobuo Inaba speaks during a news conference in Tokyo on Tuesday.
JAPAN
Sep 11, 2024
NHK director resigns over Chinese staff member's controversial comments
The Chinese staff member said in Chinese-language radio news on Aug. 19 that the Japanese-administered Senkaku Islands were part of Chinese territory.
NHK's headquarters in Tokyo's Shibuya Ward
JAPAN
Aug 23, 2024
NHK chief apologizes for Senkaku Islands report on Chinese news
NHK is considering seeking damages from and filing a criminal complaint against a Chinese newscaster over the incident.
A Mexican man rescued near Uotsuri Island in the Senkaku chain in Okinawa Prefecture is believed to have drifted to the area in a canoe from the island of Yonaguni, also in Okinawa.
JAPAN
Aug 18, 2024
Japan rescues Mexican man from Senkakus
A Mexican national had gone missing from an accommodation facility on Yonaguni, and it appears this was the rescued person, officials said.
Chief Cabinet Secretary Yoshimasa Hayashi speaks during a news conference at the Prime Minister's Office on Friday.
JAPAN / Politics
Jul 6, 2024
Japan criticizes China over buoy in Pacific Ocean
The Chinese side said that the buoy is for tsunami observation and not intended to violate Japan's sovereign rights over its continental shelf.
According to the JCG's 11th regional headquarters in Naha, two Chinese ships entered Japanese waters south of Uotsuri Island in the Senkaku chain around 3:15 p.m. They were both reported to be equipped with what appeared to be cannons.
JAPAN
Jun 23, 2024
China ships enter Japan waters near Senkakus for fourth straight day
As the ships tried to approach a Japanese fishing boat, Japan Coast Guard patrol vessels secured the safety of the boat and warned the Chinese ships to leave.
A China Coast Guard vessel sails in the East China Sea near the disputed isles known as Senkaku isles in Japan and Diaoyu islands in China in December 2015.
JAPAN
Jun 22, 2024
Chinese ships enter Japanese waters near Senkakus for two days in row
It was the 21st intrusion by Chinese official ships into the Japanese waters near the Senkakus this year.
China Coast Guard vessels fire water cannons toward a Philippine resupply vessel as it made its way to the Second Thomas Shoal in the South China Sea in March.
ASIA PACIFIC
Jun 15, 2024
China Coast Guard's new 60-day detention rules take effect
The regulations allowing the arrest of foreign nationals suspected of trespassing in waters "under China's jurisdiction" have stoked fears of escalation.
Defense Minister Minoru Kihara heads to a trilateral meeting on the sidelines of the Shangri-la Dialogue security conference in Singapore on June 2. Kihara will attend the upcoming meeting with Foreign Minister Yoko Kamikawa, along with their Philippine counterparts.
JAPAN / Politics
Jun 11, 2024
Japan and Philippines to hold ‘two-plus-two’ security talks in July
At the meeting, the two sides could sign a reciprocal access agreement to facilitate mutual visits by the Self-Defense Forces and the Philippine military.
Chief Cabinet Secretary Yoshimasa Hayashi
JAPAN
Jun 7, 2024
Chinese armed vessels patrol waters around disputed islands, angering Japan
China's coast guard said that it had patrolled the waters with vessels carrying weapons in what it called a "routine action."

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