By Sun Jianxiang
"Maritime environmental research" has been used by some countries and groups as a pretense to infringe upon China's territorial sovereignty and seize political gains. Recently, five members of the National Diet of Japanparticipated in the so-called "survey team" organized by the Ishigaki municipal government to conduct "maritime surveys" in the waters around China's Diaoyu Dao. This is the third "survey mission" conducted by the Japanese government since 2022. Japan's frequent provocations play up to the attempt of the US to contain China at sea and align with the Philippines' infringement of China's territorial sovereignty in the South China Sea.
Japan's so-called "maritime surveys" are essentially an infringement on China's territorial sovereignty and a complete political manipulation. The Diaoyu Dao and its affiliated islands are an inalienable part of China's territory. China has indisputable sovereignty over the Diaoyu Dao, which has been China's inherent territory in historical, geographical and legal terms. No matter what unilateral actions Japan takes with regard to the island, it cannot change the fact that the Diaoyu Dao belongs to China. For a long time, Japan has been creating troubles over the issue of the Diaoyu Dao. The so-called "surveys" by Japanese right-wing politicians and journalists are aimed at hyping up the so-called "China threat" theory and attempting to get the upper hand in public opinion. The expulsion of the so-called "scientific research ships" of Japan by the law enforcement vessels of China Coast Guard and China's fishery authority patrolling the waters of the Diaoyu Dao is by no meansan act of harassment, but an effort to effectively safeguard China's territorial integrity and sovereignty.
The so-called "surveys" related to the Diaoyu Dao conducted by the Japanese side only demonstrate the ignorance of the Japanese right-wing forces. The Japanese side claimed that such activities were aimed at assessing the impact of drifting garbage on the Diaoyu Dao and the damage caused by goats to the vegetation on the island. In fact, it is the Japanese right-wing forces, who tried to gain political benefits at the expense of ecological security,that have caused the problem of invasive alien species on the Diaoyu Dao. In 1978, the Japanese right-wing group Seinensya illegally landed on the Diaoyu Daowith two goats, including a male and a female. Since then, goats have started to multiply rapidly there. Research by Japanese scholars has shown that since the deliberate introduction of goats in 1978, the ecosystem of the Diaoyu Dao has been damaged due to a sharp increase in the population of goats, leaving many native species under the threat of extinction.
The fundamental purpose of Japan frequentlyhyping up the so-called "China threat" theory and making political provocations is to accelerate the process of "military normalization" and gradually realize its ambition of becoming a "military power" and "normal country". On the one hand, Japan has joined the exclusive clique formed by the US and frequently intervened in the situation of the South China Seaand the Taiwan Strait, in an attempt to create a "joint operation mechanism in the East China Sea, the South China Sea, and the Taiwan Strait" to disturb China's surrounding environment. On the other hand, Japan's moves such as joining AUKUS, expanding its amphibious forces, and deploying missiles in Okinawa have all exposed its ambition to expand its armaments and disrupt regional peace and security with the connivance of the US.
The Asia-Pacific region is anarea of peaceful development, not an arena for major countries to wrestle with each other, still less a "hunting ground" for a few countries. Peace, development and cooperation are the common aspiration of countries and people in the region. In terms of territorial sovereignty, Japan should abide by the four-point principled agreement on bilateral relationsand stop all provocative acts and practices to unilaterally escalate the situation. In terms of military security, Japan shouldlearn lessons from history, speak and act prudently, and stop serving as a "pawn" of the US in the latter's attempt to expand its hegemony.
(The author is from the Institute of Maritime Strategy Studies, China Institutes of Contemporary International Relations.)
Editor's note: Originally published on china.com.cn, this article is translated from Chinese into English and edited by the China Military Online. The information and opinions in this article do not necessarily reflect the views of eng.chinamil.com.cn.
