🔗 Share this article Beijing Sends Maritime Patrol Ships to Senkaku Islands Amid Dispute with Japan China has sent its coast guard into the waters of the Diaoyu islands and unmanned aerial vehicles past outlying Japanese territory as Beijing ramps up strains over the Japanese prime minister’s comments regarding the island of Taiwan. Rights Enforcement Activities On Sunday, the China's maritime patrol announced that its ships carried out a “rights enforcement patrol” through the territorial seas of the Senkaku, which are under the control of Japan but also claimed by China. “Chinese maritime patrol unit 1307 performed surveillance within the territorial waters of the Diaoyu islands. This was a legitimate rights enforcement activity undertaken by the Chinese maritime authorities to protect its sovereign claims,” officials declared. Diplomatic Spat China and Japan have consistently clashed around the islands but the latest activity occur during an intensifying diplomatic spat after the Japanese prime minister, Sanae Takaichi, told parliament that if Beijing assaults the self-governing island of Taiwan it might provoke a military response from Japan. That sparked an angry response from China, which has signalled it expects a withdrawal from the Japanese official. Island's Stance China claims the island as its own territory and plans to incorporate it under what it terms “unification”. It has left open the use of force. Taiwan’s government and citizens categorically refuse the idea of Beijing's control – choosing to preserve the current situation without explicitly declaring themselves independent, but pledging to protect their sovereignty if required. An attack or invasion by Beijing would risk escalating into a international confrontation, possibly drawing in the United States and other allies including Japan, which has land just 110km (68 miles) from the island. Defense Operations In Taiwan, the military authorities said on Sunday morning that it had detected 30 Chinese military aircraft, seven navy ships and one government vessel, which was likely the maritime patrol, operating around the territory over the previous day. Official charts released showed up to three drones operating near Taiwan and the Japanese islands off its north-east coast, seeming to travel particularly close to the nearby Japanese island. Chinese military transits there are not rare, but infrequent, and Beijing's defense operations in the island's ADIZ generally has been minimal in the past month. Earlier this weekend, the defense officials said China had been conducting another “joint combat patrol” to “harass the airspace and sea around us”. It noted the island had sent its own aircraft and ships to track the developments. Taiwan documents these operations a few times monthly as part of what Taipei says is an continuous strategic pressure. Diplomatic Pressure Tokyo has been facing mounting pressure from Beijing since Takaichi made her comments, with Beijing's diplomatic representative in the Japanese city prompting a formal protest from Japan by stating that “the dirty head that sticks itself out must be cut off”. Beijing then called in Japan's diplomat for the first time in more than two years, and Beijing's military authorities declared that any Japanese intervention would be doomed to fail. Travel and Education Advisory On Friday, China advised its people to avoid visiting Japan, prompting Tokyo to urge Beijing to take “appropriate measures”, though it provided no details. Three Chinese airlines announced this weekend that flights to Tokyo could be cancelled without penalty. Adding to the tensions, Beijing's administration on the weekend urged its citizens to “carefully reconsider” studying in Japan, citing what it characterized as an volatile safety situation. While the advice does not amount to a ban, a dramatic reduction in the population of learners from China could have a detrimental effect on academic institutions in Japan. A historic high of over 336,000 international students were enrolled in Japanese schools last year, according to official data. They included more than 123,000 Chinese students – by far the largest demographic. Media Response Earlier this weekend, a Chinese state media editorial accused Takaichi of staging a diplomatic maneuver that was “not just dangerously provocative but fundamentally perverse”. “A clash between Tokyo and Beijing would not be a small-scale encounter; it would likely draw in other nations, including the United States, and could rapidly escalate to a large-scale conflict with severe repercussions.” Strategic Positions The administration in Taipei says only its people can decide its future. Japanese leaders have traditionally refrained from discussing the island openly when discussing such scenarios, maintaining a “deliberate vagueness” also preferred by Tokyo’s main security ally, the US. Nevertheless, China’s ruling Communist party says the unification of Taiwan with the People’s Republic of China is “unavoidable”, and casts any opposition to it as escalatory. As it moves towards being capable of military annexation, China has also been escalating its non-military activity and its statements towards the island.