Beijing finishing land reclamation project in S. China Sea, Japan ‘mulls’ shooting down drones

June 16th, 2015

David Schulberg

Reuters/Martin Petty

Beijing’s land reclamation project at several disputed islands in South China Sea is nearing completion. As China’s neighbors and the US voice concerns about the activities, Japan may go as far as shooting down China’s drones patrolling the argued waters.

The foreign ministry of China announced on Tuesday that land reclamation
projects on the disputed Spratly Islands (Nansha Islands in
Chinese) are close to their completion. Beijing is building
infrastructure for maritime search and rescue operations,
environmental conservation and scientific research.

“The construction activities on the Nansha Islands and reefs
fall within the scope of China’s sovereignty, and are lawful,
reasonable and justified. They are not targeted at any other
country, do not affect the freedom of navigation and over-flight
enjoyed by all countries in accordance with international law in
the South China Sea,” foreign ministry spokesperson Lu Kang
said.

According to the US data, the Chinese building program on the
disputed islands covers more than 800 hectares. Washington and
Chinese neighbors are concerned the project will enhance
Beijing’s control over the territory.

“If we leave any unlawful situation unattended, order will
soon turn to disorder, and peace and stability will collapse. I
hope and expect all the countries, including China, to behave as
a responsible power,” Japanese Defense Minister Gen Nakatani
said at conference in Singapore over Asia-Pacific security on
late May.

China has long-lasting territorial disputes with its neighbors.
It laid claim to 90 percent of South China Sea, which is believed
to be rich on oil and gas. The cornerstones of the conflict are
the Paracel Islands (Xisha in Chinese) which are disputed by
People’s Republic of China, Taiwan and Vietnam, and the Spratly
islands contested by six countries – Malaysia, the Philippines
and Brunei in addition to the above. These disputes cause
tensions in the region. Thus, on May 21, Chinese military
challenged the US navy plane and told it to leave the area.

The Japanese Ministry of Defense is now considering whether to
down Chinese drones if China starts to carry out routine patrols
over the disputed Senkaku Islands (Diaoyu Islands in Chinese) in
the East China Sea, Want China Times daily says quoting Kyodo.

Earlier this year, the Japanese defense white paper called
interception of Chinese drones with fighters is the only
countermeasure against Chinese drone activities over the
Senkakus.

China deployed its unmanned aerial vehicles in 2013 as a response
to increased US military activities in the region. The USA
stationed two its RQ-4 Global Hawk drone in Okinawa for the
purposes of monitoring China’s naval activities. China was also
upset at the US positioning an X-band missile defense radar in
Kyoto, Japan in October, 2014.

“Some countries have pushed forward anti-missile system
deployment in the Asia-Pacific region to seek unilateral
security, which runs against regional stability and mutual trust
as well as peace and stability in Northeast Asia,” Chinese
Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Hua Chunying claimed.

According to a Chinese document on the country’s use of drones,
the China possesses about 50 drones including the
‘’Yilong’’ drone which seems to be the most suitable for
monitoring the situation in East China. The South China Daily
Post newspaper reported Saturday Beijing is mulling to use the
whole fleet for surveillance of the whole disputed area.

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Beijing finishing land reclamation project in S. China Sea, Japan ‘mulls’ shooting down drones
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