By Kiyoshi TakenakaNARASHINO, Japan Sun Jan 12, 2014 4:00am EST1 of 4. Japan's Defence Minister Itsu...

1. Japan condemns China fishing curbs; vows to defend islands
By Kiyoshi Takenaka
NARASHINO, Japan Sun Jan 12, 2014 4:00am EST
1 of 4. Japan's Defence Minister Itsunori Onodera (C) reviews troops from the Japanese Ground Self-
Defense Force 1st Airborne Brigade during an annual new year military exercise at Narashino
exercise field in Funabashi, east of Tokyo January 12, 2014.
Credit: Reuters/Issei Kato
NARASHINO, Japan (Reuters) - Japan on Sunday
joined the United States in criticising China's new
fishing restrictions in the South China Sea, saying
the curbs, coupled with the launch last year of an air
defence zone, has left the international community
jittery.
Defence Minister Itsunori Onodera made the
comment http://minn-kota.com after observing the
Japanese Self-Defence Forces' elite airborne brigade
conducting airdrop drills designed to hone their skills to defend and retake remote islands.
Earlier on Sunday, Chinese government ships briefly entered what Japan considers its territorial
waters near a group of disputed East China Sea islets, in the first such action this year.
"Setting something like this unilaterally as if you are treating your own territorial waters, and
imposing certain restrictions on fishing boats is not something that is internationally tolerated,"
Onodera told reporters.
"I'm afraid not only Japan but the international society as a whole has a concern that China is
unilaterally threatening the existing international order" with its new restrictions in the South China
Sea and the creation of an air defence identification zone, he said.
The fishing rules, approved by China's southern Hainan province, took effect on January 1 and
require foreign fishing vessels to obtain approval to enter disputed waters in the South China Sea,
which the local government says are under its jurisdiction.
Washington called the fishing rules "provocative and potentially dangerous", prompting a rebuttal
from China's foreign ministry on Friday.
Ties between China and Japan, the world's second- and third-largest economies, have been strained
due to a long-running row over ownership of the group of tiny, uninhabited islands called the
Senkaku in Japan and Diaoyu in China.

2. Tensions soared in recent months after Beijing announced the air defence identification zone
covering a large swathe of the East China Sea, including the disputed isles, and Japanese Prime
Minister Shinzo Abe visited a controversial Tokyo shrine seen by critics as a symbol of Japan's
wartime aggression.
China and South Korea, where bitter memories of Japan's past militarism run deep, have repeatedly
expressed anger in the past over Japanese politicians' visits to Yasukuni Shrine, where Japanese
leaders convicted as war criminals by an Allied tribunal are honoured along with those who died in
battle.
Stoking tensions further, three Chinese government ships on Sunday morning briefly entered what
Japan sees as its territorial waters near the disputed islands, controlled by Japan but also claimed by
China, the latest in such occasional entries by Chinese ships.
"We can never overlook such repeated entries. In addition to diplomatic efforts, we will cooperate
with Coast Guard and securely defend our territory and territorial waters around the Senkaku,"
Onodera said.
Patrol ships from China and Japan have been shadowing each other near the islets on and off for
months, raising fears that a confrontation could develop into a clash.
(Editing by Jeremy Laurence)
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