EAST CHINA SEA (ECS)
Key Takeaways
- The PRC continues to use maritime law enforcement ships and aircraft to patrol near the Japan-administered Senkaku Islands.
- The PRC attempts to legitimize its claims in the ECS through the continuous presence of PRC fishing and Maritime Militia vessels, escorted by CCG cutters and with PLA Navy warships nearby as overwatch.
- In 2021, the PRC passed new legislation regarding the rules of engagement for their Coast Guard vessels, which created a legal justification for more aggressive patrols. Throughout 2021 and 2022, the PRC expanded its annual unilateral summer fishing ban in Beijing-claimed waters north of the 12th parallel to include the ECS by an additional month to incrementally enforce its de facto maritime sovereignty claims.
The PRC claims sovereignty over the Japanese-administered Senkaku Islands in the ECS, which Taiwan also claims. Beijing continues to uphold the importance of the 2014 four-point consensus, which states Japan and the PRC will acknowledge divergent positions over the ECS but prevent escalation through dialogue, consultation, and crisis management mechanisms. The United States does not take a position on sovereignty of the Senkaku Islands but recognizes Japan’s administration of the islands and continues to reaffirm that the islands fall within the scope of Article 5 of the U.S.-Japan Mutual Security Treaty. In addition, the United States opposes any unilateral actions that seek to undermine Japan’s administration of the islands.
The PRC uses maritime law enforcement ships and aircraft to patrol near the Senkaku Islands, not only to demonstrate its sovereignty claims, but also to improve readiness and responsiveness to potential contingencies. In 2022, the PRC continued to conduct regular patrols into the contiguous zone territorial seas around the Senkaku Islands and stepped up efforts to challenge Japan’s control over the islands by increasing the duration and assertiveness of its patrols. For the third year in a row, CCG ships entered Japanese-claimed waters for more than 100 consecutive days, including over 300 days in the contiguous zones around the Islands in 2022. In December 2022, the CCG conducted the longest entrance to date into the Senkaku Islands territorial waters, with four ships remaining in the waters for nearly 73 hours. The previous record for territorial waters entrance duration was 64 hours, set in July 2022. The increased PRC assertiveness around the Senkaku Islands caused Japanese Prime Minister Fumio Kishida to express “grave concern” in November to President Xi during the first meeting between Chinese and Japanese leaders since December 2019. The two leaders agreed to reestablish a maritime and aerial hotline between the two countries’ militaries to resume security dialogue, which the two defense ministers later used for the first time in May 2023.
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OFFICE OF THE SECRETARY OF DEFENSE
Annual Report to Congress: Military and Security Developments Involving the People's Republic of China
