Japan to bolster patrols near disputed isles

Japan will beef up airborne patrols of disputed islands in the East China Sea, an official said on 13 April, in response to increased Chinese activity in the area.

New crew members will operate two extra jets that will be deployed in the next 12 months to strengthen patrols around the Senkaku Islands, according to a spokesman from the Japan Coast Guard.

The spokesman told AFP: ‘We'll boost our aviation crew by bringing in 60 more members.’

Japan will deploy two Falcon 2000LXS jets in fiscal 2018 and one more plane in 2019 to allow a ‘24-hour patrol system’ to monitor the disputed islands, known in China as the Diaoyus.

The move comes after Japan spotted a Chinese nuclear-powered submarine in disputed waters early in 2018.

The uninhabited islets are at the centre of a festering row between Tokyo and Beijing, which is also involved in a widening dispute with several Southeast Asian countries over islands in the South China Sea.

The Japanese government has long complained about China's routine dispatch of coast guard ships to waters surrounding the islands.

Relations between Japan and China deteriorated in 2012 when Tokyo ‘nationalised’ some of the islets.

Since then, the two top Asian economies have taken gradual steps to mend fences but relations remain tense.