East China Sea Archives | Asia Maritime Transparency Initiative

Counter-Coercion Series: Senkaku Islands Nationalization Crisis

By Michael Green, Kathleen Hicks, Zack Cooper, John Schaus and Jake Douglas | June 14, 2017 | Categories: East China Sea

In late 2011, Tokyo governor Shintaro Ishihara launched negotiations with the private Japanese owner of three of the disputed Senkaku Islands (administered by Japan but claimed by China and Taiwan). A government ministry had been leasing three islets—Uotsuri, Kita, and Minami—from owner Kunioki Kurihara for years to prevent hardliners from developing them or otherwise inflaming the dispute. Yet, hobbled by large business debts, Kurihara had recently decided to sell.

Counter-Coercion Series: East China Sea Air Defense Identification Zone

By Michael Green, Kathleen Hicks, Zack Cooper, John Schaus and Jake Douglas | June 13, 2017 | Categories: East China Sea

China’s East China Sea Air Defense Identification Zone, a flashpoint since 2012, led to a palpable hardening of views in Washington on Chinese intentions. At the same time, despite some risky incidents, the Chinese military still conducts most of its air intercepts professionally and safely.

Counter-Coercion Series: Senkaku Islands Trawler Collision

By Michael Green, Kathleen Hicks, Zack Cooper, John Schaus and Jake Douglas | May 18, 2017 | Categories: East China Sea

Although often overshadowed by the 2012 nationalization crisis, the 2010 Senkaku trawler collision laid the foundation for heightened brinkmanship in the East China Sea.

The Era of Coast Guards in the Asia Pacific is Upon Us

By Lyle Morris | March 8, 2017 | Categories: China, Coast Guard, East China Sea, South China Sea

On its face, having coast guards patrol large bodies of disputed territory might be cause for optimism. But the way coast guards are employed in the South China Sea as blunt instruments to assert state power gives more cause for concern than optimism.

Misinterpretation and Consequences of Arbitration: A Chinese Perspective

By Xue Chen | August 9, 2016 | Categories: Arbitration, East China Sea, South China Sea

When the tribunal deciding the South China Sea arbitration case brought by the Philippines against China issued its award on July 12, the international media seemed impressed by the landslide decision in favor of the Philippines on almost all of its claims. Many reported that the ruling was a rebuke of China’s sovereignty claims, but […]

Taipei’s Risky Agreement with Beijing on Okinotorishima

By Tetsuo Kotani | May 10, 2016 | Categories: China, East China Sea, Japan, Taiwan

Taiwan challenges Japan’s claim to an exclusive economic zone in order to protect security and fishing interests

“Self-Restraint” with Japanese Characteristics

By Adam P. Liff | March 10, 2016 | Categories: China, East China Sea, Japan, South China Sea

Japan’s model of self-restraint in the Senkaku Islands is a model of regional stability for China in the South China Sea

China’s Navy Lobby and its Impact on PRC Maritime Sovereignty Policies

By Christopher D. Yung | September 11, 2015 | Categories: China, East China Sea, Indo-Pacific Region, South China Sea

Introduction This paper assesses the influence of the PLA Navy (PLAN) and its affiliated individuals and organizations (referred to as the “PLAN Lobby” or “Navy Lobby”) on specific policies related to China’s “maritime sovereignty”.[1] A lobby is a group of individuals who use direct or indirect means to collectively or individually advocate policy positions to […]

The Enabling Role of UNCLOS III in PRC Maritime Policy

By Isaac B. Kardon | September 11, 2015 | Categories: China, East China Sea, International Law, South China Sea

To what extent does the law of the sea influence PRC decisions about maritime policy? If there is any influence, does it on balance play a constraining or enabling role in Beijing’s decisionmaking in this domain? This brief, mostly conceptual article argues that the enabling effects are more significant. For Beijing, UNCLOS III functions to […]

China’s Maritime Rights Protection Leading Small Group—Shrouded in Secrecy

By Bonnie Glaser | September 11, 2015 | Categories: China, East China Sea, South China Sea

Foreign policy decisionmaking in China has always been opaque, but under Chinese Communist Party General Secretary and President Xi Jinping, it has become even more cryptic. The strongest leader to come to power in more than two decades, Xi has concentrated power in his own hands and rarely vets foreign policy initiatives with the […]

Platforms of Mistrust: Natural Resource Development in the East China Sea

By Nicholas Szechenyi | August 5, 2015 | Categories: China, East China Sea, Japan

On July 22, 2015, the Government of Japan (GOJ) released photographs[1] and a map[2] of offshore drilling platforms constructed by China in the East China Sea and issued a statement[3] calling on China to cease what Japan considers unilateral resource development in violation of a bilateral agreement concerning the joint exploration of natural resources. The […]

Highlights from Shangri-La Dialogue 2014

By AMTI Leadership | May 28, 2015 | Categories: ASEAN, China, East China Sea, Japan, Shangri La Dialogue, South China Sea, United States

Highlights from Shangri-la Dialogue 2014. Video credit: IISS. The 2015 Shangri-La Dialogue kicks off on Friday, May 29, in Singapore and runs through the weekend. The defense summit will feature a keynote speech by Singapore’s Prime Minister Lee Hsein Loong and plenary remarks by U.S. Secretary of Defense Ashton Carter, Japanese Minister of Defense Gen […]

China’s ADIZ at One Year: International Legal Issues

By Matthew Waxman | November 25, 2014 | Categories: ADIZ, China, East China Sea

This week marks a year since China abruptly declared an Air Defense Identification Zone (ADIZ) covering a large area of the East China Sea, including islands the legal possession of which China disputes with Japan. Especially because China has sent signals that it might enact another such zone in the South China Sea, this anniversary […]

China’s First ADIZ Decision: One Year Later

By Zhu Feng | November 25, 2014 | Categories: ADIZ, China, East China Sea

China’s Air Defense Identification Zone (ADIZ) announcement on November 23, 2013 was one year ago, but frictions around the decision still remain. Tokyo insists that it rejects the ADIZ, and no Japanese civilian flights file their passage as requested. The United States has toned down its initial opposition, but no U.S. military planes obey Chinese […]

Reviewing the First Year of China’s ADIZ: A Japanese Perspective

By Tetsuo Kotani | November 25, 2014 | Categories: ADIZ, China, East China Sea, Japan

When China’s Defense Ministry made an announcement of an “East China Sea Air Defense Identification Zone” on November 23, 2013, the fundamental question was about its legal nature. The announcement provided that all aircraft, “regardless of its destination,” shall comply with the procedures within the ADIZ and that the Chinese military will take “defensive emergency […]