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Onrust in de wereld => Conflict gebieden => Azië => Topic gestart door: Harald op 07/02/2013 | 14:03 uur

Titel: Spanningen rondom Japan
Bericht door: Harald op 07/02/2013 | 14:03 uur
Russian fighter jets 'breach Japan airspace'

Two Russian fighter jets have violated Japanese airspace, prompting Tokyo to scramble its own aircraft, reports say.

Japan lodged a protest after the planes were detected off the northern island of Hokkaido for just over a minute.

The incident happened after Japanese PM Shinzo Abe said he was seeking a solution to a territorial dispute with Russia over a Pacific island chain.

Russia's military denied the incursion, saying the jets were making routine flights near the disputed islands.

Mr Abe was speaking on the anniversary of an 1855 treaty which Japan says supports its claims to the islands.

The four islands - which Russia calls the Southern Kurils and Japan calls the Northern Territories - are the subject of a 60-year-old dispute.

Because of the dispute, the two nations have not yet signed a peace treaty to end World War II.

'Extremely problematic'

"Today, around 03:00 (06:00 GMT), military fighters belonging to Russian Federation breached our nation's airspace above territorial waters off Rishiri island in Hokkaido," the foreign ministry said.

Japanese F-2 fighter jets were scrambled, as the Russian Su-27 planes flew south over the Sea of Japan before turning back to the north, Japan's Kyodo news agency said.

Defence ministry official Yoshihide Yoshida told journalists it was not clear whether the incursion was intentional or accidental, but described it as "extremely problematic".

Roman Martov, a spokesman for the Russian air force's eastern district, was quoted by Russian media as saying the planes did not enter Japanese airspace.

The flights were "strictly in accordance with international rules on the use of airspace and did not involve breaching the borders of other states", he said.

Japan last reported an incursion by Russian aircraft in February 2008.

Hours earlier, Mr Abe spoke to former inhabitants of the disputed islands and their descendants in a speech to mark Northern Territories Day, when rallies are traditionally held to call for the return of the islands.

"In the telephone talks, I told [Russian] President [Vladimir] Putin I would make efforts to find a mutually acceptable solution so as to ultimately solve the issue of the Northern Territories," he said.

In December, Mr Abe and Mr Putin agreed to restart talks on signing a peace treaty.

Mr Abe is currently facing an escalation in a separate dispute with China over islands in the East China Sea.

Japan, which controls them, calls them the Senkaku islands, China calls them the Diaoyu islands.

The countries have disputed their ownership for years, but the row erupted again in September when the Japanese government bought three of them from a private owner.

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-asia-21364559
Titel: Re:Spanningen rondom Japan
Bericht door: Elzenga op 11/12/2013 | 10:40 uur
Japan's defense plans focus on China and islands dispute
Photo
3:59am EST

By Kiyoshi Takenaka

TOKYO (Reuters) - Japan will set up a new amphibious military unit and deploy unarmed surveillance drones in its southwest, where it faces a row with China over disputed islands, according to drafts of the nation's latest defense plans seen on Wednesday.

Prime Minister Shinzo Abe ordered the defense policy review after returning to office last December, pledging to strengthen the military and boost Japan's global security role.

The new defense guideline and military build-up plan, to be approved by the government next week, follow China's declaration in November of a new air defense identification zone in an area that includes the disputed isles, triggering protests from Tokyo, as well as Washington and Seoul.

The drafts of the two plans were made available at a meeting of ruling Liberal Democratic Party (LDP) lawmakers and shown to reporters. Final versions of the defense guideline, which lays out Japan's defense policy for the next 10 years, and the build-up plan, called the mid-term defense program and covering a five-year period, will be unveiled next Tuesday.

Citing Japan's concerns about what it calls Beijing's attempts to change the status quo with force, the guideline says Japan will "respond calmly and resolutely to the rapid expansion and step-up of China's maritime and air activities."

Underlining the tensions between the world's second and third-largest economies, China's Foreign Ministry said China was not a threat to any country and that it was watching Japan's moves.

"China is closely watching Japan's security strategy and policy direction. Japan's unreasonable criticism of China's normal maritime activities and its hyping up of the China threat has hidden political motives," ministry spokesman Hong Lei told a daily news briefing.

Japan plans to set up an amphibious unit designed to take back the remote islands in case of invasion and boost the number of fighter jet squadrons at its Naha base on Japan's southern island of Okinawa to two from one to maintain air superiority.

One squadron usually consists of 20 fighter jets.

It also plans to procure unmanned surveillance planes and establish a unit of E-2C early warning aircraft at the Naha base, the draft of the build-up plan said.

E-2Cs, routinely used to keep watch in the area surrounding the disputed islands called the Senkaku in Japan and Diaoyu in china, are currently based in northern Japan's Misawa base.

MISSILE DEFENCE, LOVE OF COUNTRY

Japan will also bolster its overall capability to respond to missile attacks in the face of improvement in North Korea's ballistic missile technology, the guideline draft said.

But it stopped short of a call to acquire the capability to strike enemy targets - a controversial and costly step that would further stretch what Japan dubs its "purely defensive" defense posture allowed under decades-old interpretations of its post-World War Two pacifist constitution.

"North Korea has repeated conduct that heightens regional tensions ... Its nuclear and missile development, along with provocative words and deeds against us, represent a grave and imminent threat to our country's security," the draft said.

Japan's concerns over a rising China and unpredictable North Korea were also echoed in the country's new national security strategy, a draft of which was also made available.

In a move likely to raise red flags among Abe's critics, who say the hawkish leader is a nationalist ideologue, the draft strategy document calls for "cultivating love of country" and expanding "security education" in institutions of higher learning. Putting more patriotism in school curricula was the aim of a revision of a law on education enacted during Abe's first 2006-2007 term, which ended when he abruptly quit in the face of a parliamentary deadlock and ill health.

As expected, the security strategy draft also said Japan will review its self-imposed ban on weapons exports, a move that could reinvigorate Japan's struggling defense industry.

Japan in 1967 drew up "three principles" on arms exports - banning sales to countries with communist governments, those involved in international conflicts or those subject to United Nations sanctions.

The rules eventually became almost a blanket ban on arms exports and on the development and production of weapons, stifling Japanese defense contractors and making it difficult for them to keep up with cutting-edge arms technology. Recent governments have made some exceptions including for joint development with the United States.

(Additional reporting by Michael Martina in BEIJING; Editing by Linda Sieg and Raju Gopalakrishnan)
http://www.reuters.com/article/2013/12/11/us-japan-defence-idUSBRE9BA05220131211?feedType=RSS&feedName=worldNews
Titel: Re:Spanningen rondom Japan
Bericht door: dudge op 23/11/2015 | 10:37 uur
Published on Nov 4, 2015
Understanding Japan's New Strategic Posture in Asia: A Conversation with Dr. Hideaki Watanabe

In this video, Hideaki Watanabe discusses 1) the creation of the Japanese Ministry of Defense's Acquisition, Technology, and Logistics Agency (ATLA); 2) the latter's mission; and 3) its part in enhancing Japan's national security. Watanabe also covers the role ATLA is playing in fostering new directions in the country's defense trade and its procurement programs. (Note: Hideaki Watanabe is currently the Head Commissioner of ATLA.)

Titel: Re:Spanningen rondom Japan
Bericht door: Sparkplug op 26/12/2015 | 16:39 uur
Japan boos om Chinese schepen bij omstreden eilandengroep

ANP, nu.nl | 26 december 2015

Japan heeft officieel protest aangetekend bij China nadat drie schepen van de Chinese kustwacht onaangekondigd Japanse wateren waren binnengevaren. Een van de vaartuigen was volgens Tokio bewapend met kanonnen.

Dat meldt het Japanse persbureau Kyodo zaterdag.

De Chinese schepen voeren in de buurt van de Senkaku eilanden in de Oost-Chinese Zee die zowel door Japan als China worden geclaimd.

Het was voor het eerst dat een gewapend Chinees kustwachtschip de Japanse wateren binnenvoer, aldus de Japanse kustwacht.

http://www.nu.nl/buitenland/4188740/japan-boos-chinese-schepen-bij-omstreden-eilandengroep.html
Titel: Re:Spanningen rondom Japan
Bericht door: Kaaskop2 op 26/12/2015 | 21:26 uur
Japanese island defense plan takes shape in bid to turn tables on China

Japan is fortifying its far-flung island chain in the East China Sea under an evolving strategy that aims to turn the tables on China's navy and keep it from ever dominating the Western Pacific Ocean, Japanese military and government sources said.

The United States, believing its Asian allies — and Japan in particular — must help contain growing Chinese military power, has pushed Japan to abandon its decades-old bare-bones home island defense in favor of exerting its military power in Asia.

Tokyo is responding by stringing a line of anti-ship, anti-aircraft missile batteries along 200 islands in the East China Sea stretching 1,400 km from the country's mainland toward Taiwan.

Interviews with a dozen military planners and government policymakers reveal that Prime Minister Shinzo Abe's broader goal to beef up the military has evolved to include a strategy to dominate the sea and air surrounding the remote islands.

While the installations are not secret, it is the first time such officials have spelled out that the deployment will help keep China at bay in the Western Pacific and amounts to a Japanese version of the "anti-access, area denial" doctrine, known as A2/AD in military jargon, that China is using to try to push the United States and its allies out of the region.

Chinese ships sailing from their eastern seaboard must pass through this seamless barrier of Japanese missile batteries to reach the Western Pacific, access to which is vital to Beijing both as a supply line to the rest of the world's oceans and for the projection of its naval power.

Bron & vervolg: http://www.japantimes.co.jp/news/2015/12/18/national/politics-diplomacy/japanese-island-defense-plan-takes-shape-bid-turn-tables-china/#.Vn70x_nhCUk
Titel: Re:Spanningen rondom Japan
Bericht door: Kaaskop2 op 03/02/2016 | 19:03 uur
Japan confirms deployment of anti-missile systems

The Japanese government on Tuesday announced that it has readied itself for a possible test-firing of a ballistic missile by North Korea by deploying both ground and sea-based anti-missile interceptors.

Japan's Defence Minister Gen Nakatani said his ministry was fully poised for any rocket or missile tests by North Korea, stating that Patriot Advanced Capability-3, or PAC-3, surface-to-air missile systems have been deployed at 34 locations, Xinhua news agency reported.

The locations comprise the ministry's facilities in Ichigaya in Tokyo, as well as in Asaka and Narashino, which is close to the capital.

Nakatani said a launch could occur without prior notice and as such Japan had to ready itself for a number of potential scenarios.

He said past launches have come without any warning, and, as such, the potential for rocket or missile-related objects falling into waters around Japan existed.

The minister added that the Maritime Self-Defence Force's Aegis destroyers, equipped with the Standard Missile-3 (SM-3) interceptor systems have also been deployed in the Sea of Japan and surrounding waters.

In 1998, North Korea's Taepodong-1, medium-range ballistic missile and successor to its Nodong class of missiles, was launched and flew over Japan and landed in the Pacific Ocean.

The defence ministry said at the time that the missile landed in the middle of the Sea of Japan, south of the Russian city of Vladivostok and hit the water some 386 km from the Noto Peninsula, the nearest coast of Japan, which lies 690 km northwest of Tokyo.

http://www.business-standard.com/article/news-ians/japan-confirms-deployment-of-anti-missile-systems-116020200733_1.html
Titel: Re:Spanningen rondom Japan
Bericht door: Sparkplug op 07/02/2016 | 12:11 uur
Strengthening Defense Posture Around Nansei Islands Critical

The Yomiuri Shimbun | February 3, 2016

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The Japan government appears determined to dissuade China from making any attempt to expand its presence in the North China Sea, and has doubled the number of F-15J fighters based at Naha air base. (Wikimedia photo)

As Chinese military forces continue to intensify their activities in the East China Sea, it is important to steadily beef up the defense posture around the Nansei Islands.

The Defense Ministry has newly organized the 9th Air Wing at the Air Self-Defense Force's Naha Airbase, the nation's first new air wing in 51 years. After moving one flight squadron from Tsuiki Airbase in Fukuoka Prefecture to Naha, the ASDF has doubled the number of its mainstay F-15 fighters at Naha Airbase from 20 to 40.

The measures are aimed at dealing with a sharp increase in the number of incidents in which the ASDF has scrambled planes in response to Chinese military aircraft flying close to Japan's territorial airspace in areas surrounding the Nansei Islands.

In fiscal 2014, the number of such incidents in areas around the islands — mostly involving Chinese military aircraft — totaled 468, marking approximately a 10-fold increase from fiscal 2008.

China may be trying to make its air defense identification zone, which Beijing unilaterally declared in the autumn of 2013 over the East China Sea, a fait accompli. The zone includes areas above the Senkaku Islands.

By beefing up its Naha unit, the ASDF has become able to deploy its planes more expeditiously, while reducing the burdens on its pilots.

The fact that Japan is demonstrating its determination to prevent China from changing the status quo with force and to defend its territorial airspace by properly responding to reconnaissance operations by China's military aircraft has significant implications.

Naha Airport, which the Self-Defense Forces use jointly with operators of civilian aircraft, has the second-largest number of takeoffs and landings for a single-runway airport in Japan, just after Fukuoka Airport.

It is essential to advance, without delay, work on the second runway at the airport, which is scheduled for concurrent use beginning in 2020.

New deployments scheduled

The new guidelines for Japan-U.S. defense cooperation stipulate that the SDF will defend remote islands on its own initiative, while the U.S. forces will play supportive roles.

Based on the guidelines, a 150-strong coastal observation unit will be deployed next month on Yonagunijima island.

In fiscal 2018, a patrol and missile unit is scheduled to be deployed on Amami-Oshima island and on Miyakojima island. The ministry is considering the deployment of a similar unit on Ishigakijima island, as well. It is important to proceed with the plan, while winning the understanding of local communities.

There have been a succession of incidents in which Chinese military vessels have sailed close to the Senkaku Islands. And intrusions into Japanese territorial waters near the islands by China Coast Guard vessels continue unabated. In December last year, a China Coast Guard vessel equipped with "gun turrets" was sighted. China is also reportedly building a large vessel in the 10,000-ton class.

These developments are linked to a reorganization of the Chinese military, which is shifting its emphasis from ground forces to maritime and air forces. Japan needs to increase its vigilance in the future. It should also be assumed that situations may arise that the Japan Coast Guard cannot deal with alone.

Should a Chinese military vessel intrude into Japan's territorial waters, the government may issue an order for the Maritime Self-Defense Force to implement maritime patrol operations. It is understandable that the Japanese government has conveyed such a policy to the Chinese side.

It is a matter of concern that there has been a delay in Japan-China negotiations concerning the establishment of a "maritime liaison mechanism" to prevent accidental clashes between the SDF and Chinese military forces. It is hoped that both countries will intelligently exert themselves to reach an agreement at an early stage.

http://www.defense-aerospace.com/articles-view/release/3/170900/japan-strengthens-defense-posture-around-nansei-islands.html
Titel: Re:Spanningen rondom Japan
Bericht door: Kaaskop2 op 08/02/2016 | 21:11 uur
Citaat van: Sparkplug op 07/02/2016 | 12:11 uur
Naha Airport, which the Self-Defense Forces use jointly with operators of civilian aircraft, has the second-largest number of takeoffs and landings for a single-runway airport in Japan, just after Fukuoka Airport.

It is essential to advance, without delay, work on the second runway at the airport, which is scheduled for concurrent use beginning in 2020.

Naha Airport verwerkt jaarlijks viermaal zoveel passagiers als Eindhoven Airport en heeft veertig F-15's, een vijftiental P-3 Orion's en nog een handvol Kawasaki T-4's, E-2C's, UH-60J's en CH-47J's gestationeerd. Kan me voorstellen dat het af en toe druk is met slechts één startbaan. Nog even volhouden totdat de tweede baan opent:

http://www.japanupdate.com/2014/02/second-naha-airport-runway-moves-to-construction/

Hier overigens nog wat beelden van de ceremonie:

Titel: Re: Spanningen rondom Japan
Bericht door: Harald op 23/11/2016 | 13:27 uur
Russian Navy deployed coastal anti-ship missiles on Kuril Islands

The newspaper of Russia's Pacific Fleet, Boyevaya Vakhta, reported that the Bal-E and Bastion-P coastal anti-ship missile batteries have been deployed in the disputed Kuril Islands.

The islands were seized by the Soviet Union at the end of World War II. Both countries have failed to sign an agreement to end hostilieis due to the dispute over the ownership of the islands.

http://alert5.com/2016/11/23/russian-navy-deployed-coastal-anti-ship-missiles-on-kuril-islands/
Titel: Re: Spanningen rondom Japan
Bericht door: Parera op 20/08/2018 | 14:09 uur
Japan Ground Self-Defense Forces to Purchase Transport Ships

(https://www.defensieforum.nl/Forum/proxy.php?request=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.navyrecognition.com%2Fimages%2Fstories%2Fnews%2F2018%2Fjuly%2FJapan_Ground_Self-Defense_Forces_to_Purchase_Transport_Ships_1.jpg&hash=765cff13a4608404337ed01f501477c0bd2d2b5f)

The Sankei Shimbun reports that Japan's Ground Self-Defense Forces (JGSDF) are currently examining a plan that would see the service purchase transport ships independent of the Maritime Self-Defense Forces (JMSDF) for the purpose of transporting men and materiel to the nation's southwestern islands in an emergency.

The plan, reported to be included in the upcoming revision of Japan's National Defense Program Guidelines (NDPG), would also see the vessels prepositioning materiel to support the JGSDF response to emergency and "gray zone" scenarios. Voices within the defense ministry support equipping the JGSDF with landing ship tanks and smaller, more maneuverable ships to aid flexibility.

The defense ministry currently maintains contracts with two private ferries to aid disaster response and island defense efforts. However, JGSDF commanders and MOD officials have evaluated the current arrangement as unsatisfactory, and have expressed a preference to move towards developing a JGSDF-specific solution. Because the JGSDF has little experience with operating LSTs or other transport vessels, the plan calls for utilizing the expertise of retired JMSDF commanders to help set up the unit within the JGSDF. The JGSDF presently operates a number of transport helicopters and aircraft -- the CH-47 Chinook and V-22 Osprey -- but airborne transportation alone is insufficient for transporting the JGSDF's rapidly growing presence in the southwestern islands, including hundreds of soldiers, a radar station, and soon-to-be-installed anti-ship missile units in Okinawa prefecture. The activation of the JGSDF's Amphibious Rapid Deployment brigade has made this need even more pressing.

At present, the JMSDF operates three LSTs of the Osumi class, each vessel displacing 14,000 tons and featuring a well deck for amphibious operations. The JMSDF also fields a number of utility landing craft equipped with bow doors.

Ben Rimland is an independent researcher on Asia-Pacific security issues. His academic research pertains to Japanese defense policy and American security policy in Asia. He can be found on twitter at @JPNsecuritywonk.

(https://www.defensieforum.nl/Forum/proxy.php?request=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.navyrecognition.com%2Fimages%2Fstories%2Fnews%2F2018%2Fjuly%2FJapan_Ground_Self-Defense_Forces_to_Purchase_Transport_Ships_2.jpg&hash=ce86f8d85e0bc5f1690cfeb674880d8386853410)

[Source: Navy Recognition ]
Titel: Re: Spanningen rondom Japan
Bericht door: bergd op 12/09/2019 | 18:42 uur
Dreiging Koreaans-Japans conflict zwaar onderschat (zie bnr podcast hieronder)

De spanningen tussen Japan en Zuid-Korea lopen op. Iets om in de gaten te houden. Japan wat afhankelijk is van Trump zit duidelijk in een spagaat.

Zuid Korea wil gebruik maken van de nieuwe zijde route en goedkope arbeidskrachten(dwangarbeiders) uit het noorden. Hiermee de concurrentie positie met Japan aangaat en ondertussen Noord-Korea die middelange afstandsraketten ontwikkeld maakt het er allemaal ingewikkeld op.

https://www.bnr.nl/podcast/de-wereld/10389334/dreiging-koreaans-japans-conflict-zwaar-onderschat

https://m.dw.com/en/japan-south-korea-dispute-shows-no-signs-of-abating/a-50284119
Titel: Re: Spanningen rondom Japan
Bericht door: Sparkplug op 03/06/2021 | 09:47 uur
Japan eyes deploying F-35A stealth jets to Komatsu base by 2025

(https://cdn-japantimes.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/06/np_file_90796-scaled.jpeg)
An F-35A stealth fighter jet at Misawa Air Base in Aomori Prefecture in January 2018 | KYODO

KYODO Jun 2, 2021

Japan is arranging to deploy four F-35A advanced stealth fighter jets by 2025 at the earliest to an Air Self-Defense Force base on the Sea of Japan coast, government sources said Wednesday, in a bid to boost the country's defense capabilities against airspace incursions by China and Russia.

The government plans to eventually deploy around 20 F-35As to Komatsu Air Base in Ishikawa Prefecture, the sources said. Japan has already decided to acquire a total of 105 F-35As, with the aim of making the aircraft one of its mainstay jets.

Chief Cabinet Secretary Katsunobu Kato said at a news conference that bases where fighter units are stationed are mainly being considered for F-35A deployment, and the Komatsu base is a "potential candidate site."

The government will notify the Ishikawa Prefectural Government and the city of Komatsu as early as Thursday, according to the sources.

The Komatsu base is home to the sole fighter unit along the Sea of Japan, with the sea separating it from countries such as China and Russia. Some 40 F-15 fighter jets are stationed at the base.

Japan has begun deploying F-35As, used by the U.S. Air Force, to replace the F-15.

The F-35A is equipped with high-performance radar that can detect ballistic missiles and is also capable of evading radar detection.

F-35As have already been deployed to Misawa Air Base in Aomori Prefecture to respond to airspace incursions and engage in surveillance activity targeting North Korea.

https://www.japantimes.co.jp/news/2021/06/02/national/stealth-jets-komatsu/