The Japan Maritime Self-Defense Force destroyer JS Suzutsuki, seen here in the East China Sea on Aug. 16, 2020. (Cody Beam/U.S. Navy)
Beijing lodged a complaint with Tokyo after a Japanese warship steamed into Chinese territorial waters last week, Japanese media reported Thursday.
The Japan Maritime Self-Defense Force destroyer JS Suzutsuki came within 12 nautical miles of China’s Zhejiang province July 4, prompting Beijing to convey “serious concern” over the incident, Kyodo News reported Thursday, citing unnamed diplomatic sources.
Japan’s Defense Ministry in response launched an investigation of the ship’s captain, according to Kyodo.
The Maritime Self-Defense Force declined to provide details or comment on the incident because it involved military operations, a spokesman told Stars and Stripes by phone Friday.
Some Japanese government officials are required to speak to the media only on condition of anonymity.
China’s Maritime Safety Administration on July 3 issued a warning that a live-fire exercise would run July 4 and 5 in Hangzhou Bay, bordered to the south by Zhejiang and north by Shanghai.
The Suzutsuki was monitoring the drill when Chinese vessels urged it to leave the area, but instead it sped up and sailed into Chinese waters for about 20 minutes before leaving, Kyodo reported.
Beijing suspects the Suzutsuki’s approach was an “intentional provocation” by the destroyer, which Beijing claimed was collecting and analyzing relevant information, Kyodo reported Thursday, citing unnamed Chinese sources.
Japanese officials told their Chinese counterparts in an unofficial discussion that the incident was possibly a “procedural error,” Kyodo reported.
Chief Cabinet Secretary Yoshimasa Hayashi declined to comment during a Thursday news conference.
“Ministry of Defense/Self-Defense Forces are ordinarily engaged in various activities, including surveillance, in waters and airspace surrounding our country,” Hayashi said. “I will refrain from answering as it involves Self-Defense Forces operation.”
He also declined to comment on the Chinese allegation that Japan purposely provoked Beijing.
Under China’s Maritime Traffic Safety Law, foreign vessels are required to give notice and provide a variety of information before entering Chinese waters.
Under the more broadly accepted United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea, foreign warships are generally allowed innocent passage through territorial waters provided they don’t pose a threat.
