Japan's defense white paper cites concerns in South China Sea

Japan's annual defense white paper, approved in a Cabinet meeting on Aug. 2, has expressed strong concerns about China's increasingly active advances into the East and South China seas and its friction with ASEAN countries.

Previous white papers have mentioned activity by the Chinese Navy and other parties in the waters surrounding Japan, but this year's paper has for the first time established a section on movements in the South China Sea, where China has run into opposition with Vietnam over claims of sovereignty. It mentions the possibility that China's actions could "affect the peace and stability of the region and international society."

The 2011 paper also includes a section on China's relations with distant geographical areas including the Middle East, Africa, the island nations of the Pacific, and Central and South America. It mentions China's expansion of its influence on these regions through visits by its naval vessels and its active arms exports.

The report regards cyberspace as an immediate issue in international society, and a Defense Ministry official acknowledged that an eye was being kept on China as there were rumors that attacks on the websites of governments around the world may have originated in China.

The white paper highlights the Democratic Party of Japan (DPJ)-led administration's lean toward the Japan-U.S. alliance in order to address the rise of China, with the commotion over the relocation of U.S. Marine Corps Air Station Futenma seemingly forgotten.

In this April 17, 2011 file photo, China's first aircraft carrier is under restoration in a shipyard in Dalian in northeastern China's Liaoning province. (AP Photo)

The report praises the support between Japan's Self-Defense Forces and the U.S. military following the Great East Japan Earthquake as contributing to a deepening of the Japan-U.S. alliance, and states, "The smooth response was a result of an accumulation of joint Japan-U.S. training."

In a prefatory note, Defense Minister Toshimi Kitazawa mentions the two-plus-two security talks between Japan and the United States that the DPJ-led government held for the first time in June, saying it was "extremely significant that over 80 percent of Japan's political force (including the opposition Liberal Democratic Party) was committed to the Japan-U.S. alliance."

Japan and China, which broke off their defense exchanges following a collision involving a Chinese fishing boat in September last year, agreed to a full resumption of exchanges in June this year and entered what one Defense Ministry official described as a "course of dialogue." However, the report indicates that Japan may cooperate with the United States, South Korea and ASEAN countries to increase pressure on China should further tension arise.