PLA launches large-scale deployment exercise near Diaoyutai
Staff Reporter 2013-09-11 16:30
The Type 054A frigate Changzhou was one of the vessels spotted in the waters near Okinawa on Sept. 9. (Photo/Xinhua)
Under the coordination of the PLA Nanjing Military Region, a military exercise is currently being held to demonstrate the power projection of the People's Liberation Army to the disputed Diaoyutai (Diaoyu or Senkaku) islands in the East China Sea. The drill that involves the country's ground, naval and air force comes one year after the disputed territory was nationalized by the Japanese government, reports the Hong Kong-based Ming Pao.
Tokyo nationalized the islands after signing a deal to buy three of the five major islets in the chain from their private owner on Sept. 11 last year. The territory has been under Japanese control since 1972 but is also claimed by China and Taiwan. The islands are known as Senkaku in Japan, Diaoyu in China and Diaoyutai in Taiwan.
On Sep. 9, two H-6G strategic bombers of the PLA Air Force and two Type 054A frigates of the PLA Navy were spotted over the airspace and waters of the Miyako Strait, a waterway between the Japanese islands of Miyako and Okinawa. A day later, China's coast guard conducted its eighth patrol mission in the waters around the Diaoyutai since the country's maritime enforcement agencies were amalgamated in July. As soon as they entered the disputed waters, the vessels were tracked by seven Japanese coast guard ships.
Further pressure has been placed on Japan after the Nanjing Military Region launched the Mission Action 2013 exercise in Fuzhou in southern China's Fujian province on Sept. 11. With the deployment of the 31st Army Group, the East Sea Fleet, South Sea Fleet and the air force detachment of the military region, the exercise will demonstrate China's ability to deploy military personnel and equipment overseas.
Around 40,000 soldiers were mobilized for the exercise along with surface combat vessels, transport aircraft, fighters and attack helicopters. Although the state-run Xinhua News Agency reported that this is only a routine exercise launched annually by the Nanjing Military Region, the Japanese government is on high alert. Yoshihide Suga, Japan's chief cabinet secretary, said the country should consider stationing personnel on the islands.
Responding to Suga's suggestion, Hong Lei, spokesperson for the Chinese foreign ministry, stated that the Japanese government will pay if it decides to provoke further conflict with China.
Huang Dong, a military analyst from Macau, said there is unlikely to be any genuine escalation of conflict, noting that China's president, Xi Jinping, recently met the Japanese prime minister, Shinzo Abe, on the sidelines of the G20 summit in St Petersburg. Though Huang said the situation should return to normal after Sept. 11, it is unlikely that there will be any breakthroughs in the territorial dispute in the near future.
