China Deploys Warships in Contested Waters Near Taiwan and Japan

China is deploying warships near its self-proclaimed air defense identification zone (adiz) between Japan and Taiwan, Japan’s Yomiuri Shimbun newspaper reported on January 28.

A recent photograph taken by a Yomiuri Shimbun journalist showed a Jiangkai ii guided-missile frigate of the Chinese Navy in the zone. China has at least four Navy warships in the area around the clock that are capable of shooting down aircraft, the Japanese government says.

China demands that aircraft flying in its adiz follow Chinese instructions, and it threatens to take “defensive emergency measures” if an aircraft refuses to do so.

Disputed territory: The adiz that China has established encroaches on Japan’s adiz and includes the Senkaku Islands, which Japan controls but China also claims. The deployment of warships in the area is also exerting military pressure on Taiwan, which China also claims as its own.

Japan, the United States and South Korea are strongly opposed to these claims, saying they violate international law.

The Trumpet says: Watch as China becomes a more and more belligerent power in Indo-Pacific waters and airspace, including the territory of other nations. Trumpet editor in chief Gerald Flurry has explained that China wants to control more maritime territory in part so it can block American commerce.

Tensions over these waters will soon boil over. To learn more, read “China Is Steering the World Toward War.”