03/11/2012 13:18
Chinese patrol ships pressuring Japan over islands
Chinese patrol ships entered waters around a disputed island group in the East China Sea for a 14th straight day on Friday, in what analysts here called a sign that China had embarked on what appeared to be a new, long-term strategy for challenging Japan’s control of the islands, The New York Times reported.
While Chinese ships have sailed near the islands before, this is the first time since a recent flare-up began that they have plied the waters so consistently. Analysts say that suggests China is trying to wear down Japan’s resolve in the dispute, and possibly even trying to chip away at Japan’s claim of having effective control over the uninhabited islands established in part by its own maritime patrols.
“This is the beginning of a war of patience, a war of attrition,” said Kunihiko Miyake, research director at the Canon Institute for Global Studies in Tokyo. “This promises to be a long, long showdown in which China tries not to provoke Japan, but instead to discourage Japan from continuing to try to control those islands.”
The Japanese Coast Guard said that on Friday six Chinese ships — four belonging to a maritime surveillance agency and two fisheries patrol ships — had entered waters claimed by Japan near the islands, known as the Senkaku in Japan and Diaoyu in Chinese. The coast guard said Japanese cutters intercepted the vessels, warning them by radio to leave.
The Chinese ships responded via radio that they were “carrying out valid operations in Chinese waters,” according to the coast guard. It said the Chinese ships stayed for about two hours, coming as close as 14 miles to the largest island, Uotsuri, just outside the 12-mile territorial limit but well within the broader zone of economic control claimed by Japan.