China says Japan's decision to participate in joint military
exercises with the United States will not dampen its resolve to defend
its claim to a disputed island chain that has been a recurring source of
tension between the Asian neighbors.
In reference to the joint
drills, planned for June, Chinese Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Hua
Chunying said "foreign pressure" cannot sway China from protecting its
territorial sovereignty in the East China Sea.
"For any related
provocative actions, the Chinese government will maintain a resolute
response," Hua was quoted by Reuters as saying during a regular media
briefing.
On Tuesday, patrol craft from the two countries
squared off in a game of oceangoing chicken near the disputed islands,
known by Japan as Senkaku and to China as Diaoyu.
The Wall Street Journal from Tokyo that on Tuesday:
"China sent eight maritime-patrol ships to the waters surrounding small East China Sea islands controlled by Tokyo but claimed by Beijing, saying it was responding to the 'illegal entry' of boats piloted by Japanese activists into its waters. The Chinese flotilla was the largest Beijing had sent to the area since September, when the current dispute flared up following Japan's decision to nationalize the islands."
Foreign Policy magazine writes that "the Senkaku-Diaoyu Islands dispute has been
marked by an increasing number of deliberate provocations on both sides:
surveillance vessels enteringnearby waters, patrol planes making passes
by the islands, scrambled fighter jets. These are planned actions,
designed to incrementally heighten tensions. But the more fighter jets
that get scrambled without good communications systems in place, the
higher the chances that these deliberate moves escalate beyond what
either Japan or China is anticipating."
As we've reported in the past, this particular
dispute is just one of several in Asian waters that has placed China at
odds with its maritime neighbors for decades and has even resulted in
brief clashes on occasion.
Reuters quotes U.S. Chairman of the
Joint Chiefs of Staff Gen. Martin Dempsey as telling reporters in
Beijing on Wednesday on the last day of his trip to China that he had
reminded Chinese officials of U.S. obligations to Japan.
"Our
position is that we don't take a position on territorial issues. In the
case of Japan in particular, however, I was careful to remind them that
we do have certain treaty obligations with Japan that we would honor,"
he said.
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