In the Upper House Election set for July 10, I find the stance on national security of the two major opposition parties, the Democratic Party and the Communist Party, to be completely incomprehensible. In the increasingly unstable global environment in which we find ourselves, how can anyone possibly be calling for the repeal of our current security laws? And yet these two parties have done just that. How can they be expected to defend our country and its people?

　　　　　On July 3, China declared it would hold military exercises around the disputed Paracel Islands in the South China Sea July 5-11, prohibiting foreign ships from entering those waters during that period.

　　　　　One day after the exercises end, on July 12, the International Court of Arbitration in The Hague is slated to hand down a ruling on the complaint the Philippines has filed against China on their territorial dispute involving the Paracels. That Beijing has repeatedly pledged to reject the court’s ruling, which will be based on the United Nations Convention on the Laws of the Seas, reflects China’s open defiance of the international community.

　　　　　The Global Times, the English-language edition of The People’s Daily, noted that the exercises are aimed at proving that China is more than capable of safeguarding the sovereignty of its territory, while stressing in its usual fashion the importance of the the exercises’ “peace-keeping” aspect.

　　　　　The Japanese government has appealed to the G-7 nations to issue a joint communique requesting all interested parties, including China, to accept the international court’s ruling over the territorial disputes in the South China Sea—a totally rational action designed to differentiate between countries committed to honoring international law and those out to defy it.

　　　　　During the G-7 summit in Ise-Shima May 25-26, Prime Minister Shinzo Abe showed several photos of the South China Sea, explaining in great detail the reality of China’s extensive land reclamation and militarization in the region. The South China Sea being far from Europe, the European leaders may not have been either aware of, or particularly interested in, the truth about China’s accelerating aggression in that area. Abe’s explanation, however, must have triggered a fresh awareness of the Chinese threat, giving the leaders who attended much clearer realization of the egregious Chinese actions in the South China Sea—a clear case of aggression akin to Putin’s in the Crimean Peninsula.

　　　　　The ruling by the court of arbitration, as well as the expected joint G-7 communique, will be unavoidably severe for China.

“Aggressive Actions”

　　　　　Under Xi Jin-Ping’s hardline policies, the only desperate countermeasure China could adopt in response was the ostentatious military exercises.

　　　　　The Paracels, where the exercises are being conducted, are a cluster of islands the Chinese wrested from the Vietnamese in the 1970s by attacking what was then part of South Vietnam. Although Vietnam has continued to claim sovereignty over the Paracels, the islands have turned into a mammoth naval base indispensable for China’s control over the South China Sea.

　　　　　The Global Times has reported that warships from all three of China’s naval fleets have already congregated in Hainan Island near the Gulf of Tonkin northwest of the Paracels. Among them are guided missile destroyers of the North Sea Fleet, and missile destroyers and missile frigates of the East Sea Fleet, in addition to the South Sea Fleet itself, which is responsible for the South China Sea.

　　　　　The participation of the other two fleets in the massive military exercises is a jingoistic expression of Chinese intent to reject any ruling based on international law in order to safeguard what it sees as its core interests. China clearly will not hesitate to resort to military means in resolving any conflict.

　　　　　China’s hardline policies are not limited to the South China Sea. Regarding an incident on June 17 in which Japanese Air Self-Defense Forces aircraft were scrambled against PLA (People’s Liberation Army) air force fighters that were rapidly approaching the Japanese-administered Senkaku Islands in the East China Sea, the Chinese Defense Ministry issued a statement on July 4, claiming that the “remarks from the Japanese side were an attempt to sow discord by distorting the facts.” The Chinese asserted that their two Sukhoi Su-30 fighter jets were simply executing a routine patrol over China’s East China Sea ADIZ (Air Defense Identification Zone) when two JASD F-15 fighter jets approached them at high speed. What was the truth?

　　　　　On June 28, Kunio Orita, former head of the Air Self-Dense Force’s Air Support Command, noted on the Japan Business Press website that Japanese fighters were scrambled when the two Chinese jets rapidly approached the Japanese territorial air space over the Senkakus and that they took “aggressive actions” against the Japanese jets during the encounter. According to Orita, the Japanese aircraft left the area after their pilots judged that staying there could see the situation “develop into a dogfight and cause an unanticipated contingency.” Orita alleged that the Japanese aircraft “utilized a device for self-defense” to avert possible missile attacks.

　　　　　The Japanese government has admitted ASDF aircraft were indeed scrambled, but denies the Chinese jets took “aggressive actions” against the Japanese jets. Meanwhile, a spokesman for the Information Bureau of the Chinese Defense Ministry claimed: “The Chinese fighter jets adopted decisive measures… to deal with the Japanese fighter jets’ provocations and, consequently, the Japanese fighters flew away after firing infrared jamming shells.” The spokesman urged that Japan “cease all provocations.”

　　　　　Not unexpectedly, the Chinese have accused Japan of lying, but I am well aware it is the Chinese side that is distorting the facts about this incident.

China’s Blatant Lies

　　　　　This of course is not the first time we have seen Chinese provocations, followed by a blatant distortion of the facts. A Chinese fishing boat unlawfully operating within the Japanese territorial waters off the Senkakus rammed two Japanese Coast Guard patrol boats in the morning of September 7, 2010. While then Prime Minister Naoto Kan and Chief Cabinet Secretary Yoshito Sengoku procrastinated, refusing to release video footage of the incident recorded by the Coast Guard, the Chinese government typically lied by insisting that the Japanese ships had caused the incident. The Chinese went so far as to use diagrams to claim that the Japanese patrol boats willfully collided with the Chinese ship as the fishing boat desperately tried to avoid the Japanese provocation.

　　　　　However, video footage posted on the Internet by a former Coast Guard employee named Masanaru Isshiki revealed that the truth was quite the opposite.

　　　　　Vietnam has suffered similarly from China’s aggression. In May of 2014, China moved a mammoth oil rig into the waters within Vietnam’s exclusive economic zone around the Paracel Islands, starting oil-drilling immediately. To protest against the Chinese action, Vietnam mobilized 29 fishing boats. China countered by having 80 fishing boats ram the Vietnamese boats.

　　　　　On May 9, the Chinese Foreign Ministry charged: “Vietnamese fishing boats have rammed Chinese vessels more than 180 times as of the night of May 8.” But the Vietnamese government quickly refuted the Chinese accusation by immediately releasing video footage proving to the world that Chinese vessels had actually rammed Vietnamese fishing boats.

　　　　　The Japanese Self-Defense Forces (JSDF) are a military organization that strictly observes the law—perhaps a little too strictly in some cases. It has a record of rigid discipline in the air, in the sea, and on the land; they are an armed force that is trained to never engage in reckless acts of provocation. That was how the ASDF behaved in the latest incident over the East China Sea. We are on safe ground in concluding that it was the Chinese aircraft that took “aggressive actions” in this encounter.

　　　　　What is obvious is that China is dead set on forging ahead with expansion in the South and East China Seas, even resorting to military attacks as it sees necessary, and that Japan is precariously exposed to the Chinese threat. In order to protect its people and homeland, Japan earlier this year revised its security laws, making it possible to exercise its right to collective defense, although on a limited basis. A majority of experts regard even this revision as still inadequate. And yet the Democratic Party and the Japan Communist Party have pledged to repeal these laws. I know I am not alone in thinking that we can hardly entrust these parties with our future.

(Translated from “Renaissance Japan” column no. 712 in the July 14, 2016 issue of The Weekly Shincho)