Russia-China Ties Worry Japan

"TOKYO -- Japan's foreign minister raised concerns in Beijing about increasing Russian and Chinese joint military activity on a day when Tokyo formally opened its closest missile base to China.

Foreign Minister Yoshimasa Hayashi told his Chinese counterpart, Qin Gang, that China should play a responsible international role and called for the release of a Japanese citizen detained in China, according to Tokyo's account of the meeting.

Mr. Qin called for friendship and cooperation from Japan, adding countries shouldn't resort to "gangsterism and pressure" in resolving differences, according to a description of the meeting from China's Ministry of Foreign Affairs. He said the case of the Japanese citizen was being handled in accordance with the law.

The accounts of Mr. Hayashi's visit, the first by a Japanese foreign minister to China in more than three years, suggested relations between Asia's two biggest economies remain frosty.

The Chinese side raised issues over Japan's planned release of water from around the Fukushima Daiichi nuclear plant into the sea and its cooperation with the U.S. in restricting the sale of chip-manufacturing equipment.

"Japan should not help a villain do evil. The embargo will only further inspire China's determination to stand on its own feet," Mr. Qin said, according to the Chinese account.

Among Japan's biggest concerns is growing military activity by China in the East China Sea and South China Sea. Japan in December labeled China its biggest security challenge.

As Mr. Hayashi was visiting Beijing, Japan's defense minister was presiding over the opening ceremony for a new military base on a southern Japanese island around 300 miles east of the Chinese coast.

The base on the island of Ishigaki is part of a fortification program for a string of subtropical islands that Tokyo views as vulnerable to China's regional ambitions. It will be equipped with antiship and antiaircraft missiles to deter the Chinese navy and air force.

"Ishigaki and the surrounding islands are the front line of our national defense," Defense Minister Yasukazu Hamada said.

China and Russia conducted joint bomber flights near Japan in May and combined naval drills around Japan. In late March, Chinese leader Xi Jinping visited Moscow for talks with Russian President Vladimir Putin.

Mr. Hayashi expressed serious concerns to Mr. Qin about Russia-China collaboration and about China's stepped-up military activities in the East China Sea, according to the Japanese account.

The Chinese foreign ministry's description of the meeting didn't directly address the issue of China's ties with Russia. Mr. Qin spoke more broadly about China's relationship with Japan, calling for "peaceful coexistence, friendship and cooperation," Beijing said.

Chinese naval vessels sometimes pass through Japan's southern island chain when entering or returning from the Pacific Ocean. China has conducted aircraft carrier takeoff and landing drills near the islands, and armed Chinese coast-guard vessels sail close to a cluster of disputed islets on a near-daily basis, Japan said.

The uninhabited islands administratively belong to Ishigaki, the site of the new missile base. Beijing claims ownership of the islets, known as the Senkakus in Japan and Diaoyu in China. The missiles on the Ishigaki base and two other bases in the island chain are short-range weapons intended to defend an archipelago that stretches over 700 miles from near Taiwan up to the Japanese mainland.

Among the weapons to be based in Ishigaki are antiship missiles known as Type 12. Tokyo plans to extend the range of Type-12 missiles within a few years to reach targets on the Chinese mainland, along with ship-launched Tomahawk missiles.

During major Chinese military exercises last August around Taiwan, one missile fired by China fell less than 50 miles from the island of Yonaguni, the closest Japanese island to Taiwan and the site of a military base with a radar station established in 2016. Tokyo plans to deploy antiaircraft missiles at the base on Yonaguni.

On Ishigaki, some people are fearful they will become a target. Ishigaki last had a military base from 1944 until the end of World War II the following year.

"They say China's maritime advancement has to be stopped by placing a missile base on this island. But we hadn't had [a base] for 78 years. Why did they have to newly build it, creating seeds of conflict now?" said Hidemasa Uehara, a 68-year-old doctor who represents a group opposed to the base.

To better defend its southern islands, Japan has also developed its version of the U.S. Marine Corps, which would be tasked with defending or retaking islands in any conflict." [1]

1.  World News: Russia-China Ties Worry Japan
Gale, Alastair; Austin Ramzy.  Wall Street Journal, Eastern edition; New York, N.Y. [New York, N.Y]. 03 Apr 2023: A.11.