China changes strategy to occupy the East China Sea?

Japan says Beijing has decided to shift from its aggressive stance in seizing control of islands in the East China Sea to a “long-term, less provocative” strategy.

Chinese patrol ships appear near the disputed islands with Japan, Senkaku/Diaoyu in the East China Sea.

China's "long-term, less provocative" strategy will make security forces in neighboring Asian countries and Japan gradually lose their vigilance.

According to Want China Times, on August 6, the Chinese Ministry of National Defense announced that many types of Japanese aircraft had blatantly violated the air defense identification zone over the East China Sea that Beijing unilaterally established last year. The Chinese Air Force closely monitored every movement of the Japanese aircraft. Accordingly, Beijing discovered that Tokyo's F-15 fighter jets had twice approached the Chinese aircraft.

Japan said that recently, the frequency of activities of Chinese coast guard vessels near the disputed islands, which Beijing calls Diaoyu and Tokyo calls Senkaku, in the East China Sea, has decreased significantly.

According to statistics in the first 6 months of this year, the frequency of Chinese ships entering this area has decreased by about 40 times, equivalent to 6.6% per month. Nikkei news agency reported that the time Chinese ships stay in this area has also decreased from 4 hours/time as before to 2-3 hours/time.

In addition, contrary to last year's stance when China frequently detained Japanese fishing boats and blocked patrols by authorities, this year the Beijing government has instructed its ships to avoid collisions and confrontations with Tokyo.

Experts say China's change in strategy in the East China Sea is due to the country's increasing sovereignty disputes in the East Sea and mobilizing a large number of patrol ships to this strategic sea area.

A security source in Japan added that China believes that raising tensions in the East China Sea is futile and unconvincing, so Beijing has changed its strategy to a “long game” of patience and non-provocation.

A Japanese official said China's new strategy will make it difficult for Tokyo to deter Beijing because Japan cannot take a tough stance and retaliate with a provocative response.

According to Soha.vn