Updated
Updated · Bloomberg · Jun 29
Japan Protests China Coast Guard Claims in EEZ Near Yonaguni, East of Taiwan
Updated
Updated · Bloomberg · Jun 29

Japan Protests China Coast Guard Claims in EEZ Near Yonaguni, East of Taiwan

3 articles · Updated · Bloomberg · Jun 29

Summary

  • Japan said Chinese coast guard vessels intermittently entered its exclusive economic zone south of Yonaguni Island and made unilateral claims over those waters.
  • Chief Cabinet Secretary Minoru Kihara lodged the protest Monday, describing the activity as Chinese assertions of maritime borders east of Taiwan and close to Japanese territory.
  • Yonaguni sits at the western edge of Japan near Taiwan, making the waters strategically sensitive as Tokyo watches Chinese coast guard operations around its southern islands.
  • The complaint comes after Japan and the Philippines said in May they would map out their claims in the region, adding to already simmering maritime tensions.

Insights

As a new Japan-Philippines alliance flexes its muscles, is the East China Sea on the brink of armed conflict?
Japan protests China's sea claims using law, but is a military buildup now the only real answer?
Beyond military posturing, who will ultimately control the vast undersea resources of the East China Sea?