fredag 12. august 2016

Japan's new Defence White Paper: Turbulence ahead


In recent days, 13 Chinese coastguard ships, along with around 230 Chinese fishing vessels entered the contiguous zone around the Japanese-held Senkaku islands - claimed by China as Diaoyu - in the East China Sea. 
Incidents like these are becoming increasingly commonplace and are among the litany of challenges that Tokyo faces in the security realm. Earlier, on August 3, North Korea fired a ballistic missile which travelled close to 1,000km before landing in Japanese waters. In addition, though last month's verdict of the Permanent Court of Arbitration in The Hague in favour of the Philippines in its territorial dispute with China made it clear that Beijing's claims in the South China Sea region do not stand legal scrutiny, China is in no mood to back off. Read more