China urges Japan not to distort facts about Diaoyu Islands

China's defense ministry on Friday urged Japan not to distort the facts about the Diaoyu Islands issue.

China, Japan take steps to bury hatchet after 3 years of dispute

China and Japan have reached an agreement on maintaining peace in the disputed chain of islands in the East China Sea after three years of war mongering. The agreement was reached in Beijing between China's State Councilor Yang Jiechi and the visiting National Security Advisor of Japan, Shotaro Yachi.

The new move may also pave the way for the first ever meeting between Chinese president Xi Jinping and Japanese prime minister Shinzo Abe on the sidelines of the Asia Pacific Cooperation summit next week.

China, Japan restart maritime talks. (Chinese FM)

China and Japan have restarted high-level consultations on maritime affairs, according to a press release issued by the Chinese foreign ministry on Wednesday.

A meeting was held on Tuesday and Wednesday in Qingdao, east China's Shandong Province, with Yi Xianliang, deputy director-general of the Department of Boundary and Ocean Affairs of the Chinese Foreign Ministry and Makita Shimokawa, deputy director-general of the Japanese Foreign Ministry's Asian and Oceanian Affairs Bureau, as the chief representatives from both sides.

Peking begleitet „feindliche“ Flugzeuge im Luftraum./Chinese jets shadowed US and Japanese planes in new air defense zone.-

Während das Außenministerium in Peking versucht, die internationalen Sorgen um eine Eskalation im Inselstreit mit Japan zu zerstreuen, haben chinesische Kampfjets „feindliche“ Flugzeuge „begleitet“.

Die chinesische Regierung gibt weiterhin widersprüchliche Hinweise darauf, wie sie ihre neue „Luftverteidigungszone“ durchsetzen will. Angesichts internationaler Kritik an der vor einer Woche erklärten Zone zeigte sich das Außenministerium am Freitag bemüht, Sorgen über eine Eskalation der Lage zu zerstreuen.

China Expands Defense Zone to Include Islands Claimed by Japan...

China's defense ministry has released an air defense zone map for the East China Sea that includes islands controlled by Japan, but claimed by China.

In a statement on its website Saturday, the ministry said that under a new set of rules, all aircraft entering the zone must notify Chinese authorities and are subject to emergency military measures if they do not identify themselves or obey orders from Beijing. The statement said the rules went into effect on Saturday.

There was no immediate response from Japan, but earlier this month, Japan scrambled fighter jets in the East China Sea after it spotted what it said was an unmanned aircraft flying toward Japan.

China Intensifies Press on Japan in East China Sea Dispute...

China is stepping up pressure on Japan in a long-running maritime dispute, deploying Chinese vessels near contested East China Sea islands and accusing Japanese leaders of making provocative statements.

Japan said four Chinese coast guard patrol ships entered the disputed waters on Monday morning, prompting Japanese authorities to warn the vessels to leave the area, which they did a short time later.

Chinese ships have sailed near the islets on dozens of occasions in the past year. Such incidents typically end within several hours, with the Chinese vessels leaving the area after trading warnings and sovereignty claims with the Japanese.

Chinesische Kampfjets erneut in der Nähe japanischen Luftraums registriert. -Senkaku/Diaoyu issue.

Zwei Kampfjets Xian H-6 und zwei Militärtransportflugzeuge Shaanxi Y-8 der chinesischen Fliegerkräfte haben am Freitag und am Samstag Flüge zwischen den südjapanischen Inseln Miyakojima und Okinawa unternommen.

 Wie der Vereinigte Stab der Selbstverteidigungskräfte Japans mitteilte, wurde zwar der japanische Luftraum nicht verletzt, dennoch mussten japanische Jagdflugzeuge in die Luft steigen.

Erstmals waren Flüge chinesischer Militärflugzeuge zwischen den japanischen Inseln im Juli registriert. 

Japan fasst diese Aktionen als eine Demonstration der wachsenden Militärmacht Chinas und dessen militärischer Präsenz in der Region.

Japan unveils largest warship since World War II. The 810-ft long ship is able to carry up to 14 helicopters. (VIDEO YT)

YOKOHAMA - Japan today (Aug 6) unveiled its biggest warship since World War II, a huge flat-top destroyer that has raised eyebrows in China and elsewhere because it bears a strong resemblance to a conventional aircraft carrier.
The ship, which has a flight deck that is nearly 250 metres long, is designed to carry up to 14 helicopters. Japanese officials say it will be used in national defence - particularly in anti-submarine warfare and border-area surveillance missions - and to bolster the nation’s ability to transport personnel and supplies in response to large-scale natural disasters, like the devastating earthquake and tsunami in 2011.

China frigate locked radar on Japan navy/Ο κινεζικός στόλος σημάδεψε ιαπωνικό σκάφος-Senkaku/Diaoyu issue

A Chinese military frigate locked weapons-targeting radar on a Japanese navy vessel, Tokyo's defence minister said Tuesday, in an apparent upping of the stakes in a bitter territorial row. The move, described by the minister and a Japanese analyst as "dangerous", marks the first time the two nation's navies have locked horns in a dispute that has some commentators warning about a possible armed conflict. "On January 30, something like fire-control radar was directed at a Japan Self-Defense Maritime escort ship in the East China Sea," Itsunori Onodera told reporters in Tokyo. "The defence ministry today confirmed radar for targeting was used." Onodera said a Japanese military helicopter was also locked with a similar radar on January 19. He did not specify whether the helicopter was airborne or on the deck of a ship at the time.

Chinese fishing boat captain nabbed for illegal fishing in Japan EEZ/Japan coast guard says detains Chinese fishing boat near Okinawa

(Reuters) - Japan's coast guard detained a Chinese fishing boat near the southern Japanese island of Okinawa on Saturday and arrested the captain for collecting coral illegally, a coast guard official said.
The vessel was detained off Miyako Island, some 150 km (95 miles) from islands in the East China Sea at the centre of a territorial dispute between the two countries, and about 400 km (250 miles) east of Taipei.
A long-simmering row over the East China Sea islands, known as the Senkaku in Japan and the Diaoyu in China, has in recent months escalated to the point where both sides have scrambled fighter jets while patrol ships shadow each other in nearby seas.

China plans to map Diaoyu Islands

China plans to survey the Diaoyu Islands in the East China Sea as part of a program to map its territorial islands and reefs.
The news is according to a document issued at a press conference held by the National Administration of Surveying, Mapping and Geoinformation. The program is part of the country’s efforts to safeguard its maritime rights and interests.
The first stage of the island surveying and mapping project was launched in 2009. China has already finished mapping islands located within 100 kilometers of its coastline. The second stage will cover islands including the Diaoyu Islands.

Japan, US defense chiefs pledge cooperation

Japanese and US defense chiefs have agreed to work closely on issues such as the Diaoyu Islands in the East China Sea and missile launches in the DPRK.Japan’s Defense Minister Itsunori Onodera and US Secretary of Defense Leon Panetta spoke on the phone on Tuesday for the first time.

Onodera said he hopes to work closely with the US to strengthen the role of Japan’s Self-Defense Forces. He expressed hopes that both countries would pay careful attention to the proposed relocation of the US Futenma Air Station within Okinawa.

Chinese protest Aso's visit to cemetery

Japanese Deputy Prime Minister Taro Aso has visited the Japanese War Cemetery in Yangon during a three-day visit to Myanmar.
Friday’s visit raised protests from some Chinese war veterans living in the country, who were in Myanmar fighting the Japanese invaders during the Second World War.
Aso’s visit lasted only 15 minutes because of the protest. Chinese veterans accused Aso of trying to cover up Japanese crimes during the war and attempting to portray its aggression as reasonable.

China "not fear troubles" regarding Diaoyu Islands (Senkaku/Diaoyu issue)

BEIJING, Dec. 28 (Xinhua) -- Vice Foreign Minister Zhang Zhijun said Friday that China will neither create nor fear any troubles concerning the Diaoyu Islands.
He made the remarks in response to a question concerning China-Japan relations at the eighth Lanting Forum.
Zhang said the Diaoyu Island and its affiliated islets are inherent parts of China's territory, and Chinese government and its people's determination to safeguard the country's territorial sovereignty is firm.
"We hope for a stable and peaceful surrounding environment, we will not create troubles, but we definitely not fear any trouble," Zhang said.

Chinese ships seen in disputed waters for first time since LDP's win (Senkaku/Diaoyu issue)

China has sent ships into the islands’ waters 19 times since Tokyo nationalised the chain in September.

Abe has pushed an agenda that includes upgrading the country’s Self Defense Forces to make them a full-scale military, and has spoken of wanting to revise Japan’s pacifist constitution.

 

TOKYO —

China sent its ships into territorial waters around disputed islands Friday, in the first incursion since Japan elected a new government.
The move is a setback to hopes in Tokyo that Beijing might use the poll as a chance for a fresh start after months of bitter wrangling and rhetoric over an issue that neither side is prepared to budge on.

Japan’s next PM: No quarter for China, reach out to Russia

(Senkaku/Diaoyu issue)
As Japan’s Prime Minister Yoshihiko Noda steps down after exit polls reveal a complete defeat of his party in parliamentary elections, the winner of the race Shinzo Abe states that Tokyo won’t concede China "one millimeter" of “Japan’s islands.”
"China is challenging the fact that (the islands) are Japan's inherent territory. Our objective is to stop the challenge," Shinzo Abe, leader of Japan's Liberal Democratic Party (LDP), declared Sunday.

Keen to make an impression: Japan-US military drills begin amid Asian island row

Japan has launched naval drills with the US in spite of heightened tensions with China over a territorial dispute. The exercise was initially planned to simulate an island re-occupation, but was scrapped for naval operations to avoid agitating China.
The 11-day drills are aimed at boosting the defense of Japan’s southwestern island territories and will involve more than 37,000 Japanese personnel and 10,000 US forces, along with an aircraft carrier.
Operation Keen Sword was originally planned to incorporate a mission to simulate the retaking of an island. Although neither the US nor Japan specified if the mission was aimed at the disputed archipelago “it was widely perceived they had in mind the Senkaku Islands,” said Japanese newspaper Kyodo.