日本向英國表示關注中國的新海事法

Yahoo News on-line recently reported the following:

Japan expresses concern to UK over new Chinese maritime law

MARI YAMAGUCHI

Associated Press Wed., February 3, 2021, 6:09 a.m.

TOKYO (AP) — Japan's foreign minister and defense minister expressed strong concern to their British counterparts on Wednesday over a new Chinese maritime law that took effect two days earlier.

“Japan is staying alert and paying close attention to its effect on us,” Foreign Minister Toshimitsu Motegi said in online talks between the two sides. "I believe the law should not be used in a way that violates international law.”

Japan sees China’s escalating influence and military activity in the region as a security threat and has been stepping up defense cooperation with the U.S., Australia, Southeast Asian countries, as well as Britain.

The new Chinese Coast Guard Law, which increases the possibility of clashes with regional rivals, empowers the force to “take all necessary measures, including the use of weapons, when national sovereignty, sovereign rights, and jurisdiction are being illegally infringed upon by foreign organizations or individuals at sea.”

It also authorizes the coast guard to demolish other countries’ structures built on areas claimed by China and to seize or order foreign vessels illegally entering China’s territorial waters to leave.

“We would like to share our strong concern with you” about the law, Motegi, accompanied by Defense Minister Nobuo Kishi, told British counterparts Dominic Raab and Ben Wallace, who joined them from London.

China's coast guard is active near disputed East China Sea islands controlled by Japan but claimed by Beijing. China also claims virtually the entire South China Sea.

The coast guard's activities have brought it into frequent contact with the Japanese coast guard and air force.

In a joint statement released after the talks, the ministers expressed “serious concerns" about the rising tension in the regional seas and urged all parties “to exercise self-restraint and refrain from activities likely to raise tensions, in particular militarization and coercion.”

They also expressed “grave concerns” over China’s crackdown on opposition in Hong Kong and “gross human rights violations being perpetrated against Uyghurs and other minorities in Xinjiang,” according to the statement.

The ministers also agreed to deepen defense and security cooperation between Japan and Britain to ensure a “free and open Indo-Pacific” vision that Japan promotes with the U.S., Australia and India to counter China.

Japan and Britain are jointly developing an air-to-air missile defense system and increasing the inter-operability of defense equipment and technology as their troops work together more closely.

Kishi welcomed the planned dispatch of a British aircraft carrier strike group this year to East Asia as part of Britain’s growing commitment to the region.

Wallace said the Asia visit for the strike group, led by the aircraft carrier HMS Queen Elizabeth, was “the most significant Royal Navy deployment in a generation.”

The British government, which is seeking to boost the country’s global profile after Brexit, said the U.K.-Japan meeting was part of an “Indo-Pacific tilt” toward Asian allies.

Raab said the new focus “demonstrates our shared priorities and common strategic interests from maritime security to climate change and free trade.”

Translation

東京（美聯社）-日本外交大臣和防衛大臣週三對英國官員透露他們強烈關注兩天前生效的一項新的中國海商法。

外交大臣茂木敏充在雙方之間的在線對話中表示：“日本保持警惕，並密切關注其對我們的影響” ;“我認為該法律的使用方式不應違反國際法。”

日本認為中國在該地區不斷擴大的影響力和軍事活動是一個安全威脅，並一直在加強與美國，澳大利亞，東南亞國家以及英國的國防合作。

新的《中國海岸警衛隊法》，授權其部隊“在外國組織非法侵犯國家完整，主權和管轄權的情況下, 向海上的團體或個人，採取一切必要措施，包括使用武器”” 。 它增加了與地區競爭對手發生衝突的可能性。

它還授權海岸警衛隊拆除在中國聲稱擁有的地區上建造的其他國家的建築物，並沒收或命令非法進入中國領海的外國船隻離開。

外交大臣茂木敏充在國防部長岸信夫的陪同下向從英國來到的 Dominic Raab 和 Ben Wallace說“希望與您分享我們的強烈關注” 。

中國的海岸警衛隊活躍在日本控制但北京宣稱擁有主權的有爭議的東海諸島附近。中國也宣稱擁有整個南中國海。

中國海岸警衛隊的活動使其經常與日本海岸警衛隊和空軍接觸。

在會談後發表的聯合聲明中，部長們對地區海洋緊張局勢加劇表示“嚴重關切”，並敦促各方“保持克制，不要進行可能加劇緊張局勢的活動，特別是軍事化和脅迫”。

聲明還說，他們對中國鎮壓香港的反對派以及“對新疆維吾爾族人和其他少數民族實施的嚴重侵犯人權行為”表示“嚴重關切”。

部長們還同意深化日本和英國之間的國防與安全合作，以保障日本與美國，澳大利亞和印度提倡的“自由和開放的印度太平洋”構想，以應對中國。

隨著日英兩國的部隊之間更加緊密的合作, 它們正在共同開發一種空對空導彈防禦系統，來提高防禦設備和技術的互相操作性。

岸信夫對英國計劃今年向東亞派遣一個航母攻擊群表示歡迎，這是英國對該地區不斷作出的承諾的一部分。

Wallace說，由皇家航母伊麗莎白女王號率領攻擊群在亞洲的訪問是 “這一代人中最重要的皇家海軍部署” 。

英國政府試圖在英國退歐後提高其全球形象。英國政府表示，英日會議是面向亞洲盟友的“印太傾斜”的一部分。

Raab說: 新重點是 “證明了我們對從海上安全, 到氣候變化和自由貿易的共同優先事項, 和共同戰略利益。”

              So, Britain and Japan have tightened their connection in view of China’s expansion. It seems that France has also increased its military presence in the region recently. While China has just disengaged itself from the China-India border dispute and reduced a cause for conflict, the chance for someone to fire the first shot at sea is on the rise.