TOKYO, Aug. 3, 2022—China’s announcement to hold 4-day military drills in six zones encircling Taiwan from Aug. 4, 2022 include Japan’s exclusive economic zones, Japan’s chief cabinet spokesman Hirokazu Matsuno told reporters Aug. 3, saying that the Japanese government ‘expressed concerns to China.’
Matsuno said that the Japanese government urged China for a peaceful solution of the Taiwan issue, which is threatening to ripple into Japanese territorial areas, notably Okinawa that hosts the largest U.S. military presence in Asia, as well as Senkaku Island, which is claimed by both Japan and China.
A spokesman for Japan’s 11th Regional Coast Guard Headquarters told The Prospect last week that a fleet of 4 heavily-armed Chinese coast guard ships had been entering Japan’s contiguous waters every day since July 16 and occasionally infringed into Japan’s territorial waters. He confirmed that Chinese patrol boats also had been frequently spotted in waters around the Okinawa main island and Ishigaki Island, south of Okinawa.
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