After the Japanese warship illegally trespassed into China's territorial waters, the Chinese side demanded that Japan must thoroughly investigate the matter, and as soon as the voice fell, more than 200 members of the Japan Self-Defense Force were punished, and the top leader of the Maritime Self-Defense Force also announced his resignation.
Recently, the Japan Maritime Self-Defense Force destroyer "Suzuki" illegally trespassed into China's territorial waters without the permission of the Chinese government. At that time, the "Liangyue" once sailed into an area only 12 nautical miles off the coast of Zhejiang Province, and even ignored repeated warnings from the Chinese side, speeding up its navigation in the sea area and staying for more than 20 minutes before leaving.
As soon as this incident came out, it immediately attracted the attention of the outside world. China also made solemn representations to Japan through diplomatic means at the first time, demanding that the Japanese side must thoroughly investigate the matter and promising that similar incidents would not occur again. The explanation given by Japan is that it was a "procedural error".
At the same time, Tokyo also insisted that the "Liangyue" did not violate international law this time, because Japan enjoys the "right of innocent passage". To put it bluntly, Japan is picking up its responsibilities cleanly and using accidents to prevaricate China. But Japan's argument is obviously untenable.
This is because the "Liangyue" trespassed into China's territorial waters at a time when the Chinese military was conducting live-fire exercises, and a no-sail zone was also set up in nearby waters. If it was just a "technical mistake", then it should have left immediately after the Chinese side issued a warning, but the "Liangyue" clearly did not do so.
What's more, Japan has long liked to monitor the movements of Chinese military aircraft and warships, and close reconnaissance has not happened unexpectedly. Therefore, it is impossible for China to accept this explanation alone. Moreover, it is quite dangerous and provocative for foreign military aircraft and warships to directly and illegally intrude into the airspace and territorial waters of other countries.
In a situation like this one, China can actually directly take force measures against the "Liangyue". Of course, Japan is well aware of the adverse impact of this incident. It is worth mentioning that as soon as China's voice demanded a thorough investigation by the Japanese side, news came from the Japan Self-Defense Forces that more than 200 people had been punished.
It has been learned that the Ministry of National Defense of Japan has announced that due to violations of law and discipline in the Self-Defense Forces, such as improper handling of state secret materials, abuse of power by high-ranking cadres, and illegal receipt of diving subsidies by the Maritime Self-Defense Forces, a total of 218 members of the Navy, Army, and Air Self-Defense Forces will be punished to varying degrees according to the actual situation.
Among them, five top cadres were included, and the Maritime Self-Defense Force received the largest number of punishments, and its top officer, Chief of Staff Yoshiyo Sakai, also announced his resignation on the same day and accepted a salary cut. Japan's defense minister, Minoru Kihara, also publicly apologized and punished him by giving up a month's salary.
This punishment is not only the largest in the history of Japan's Self-Defense Forces, but it is also quite rare for each department to punish the top leaders at the same time. Putting aside the problems of Japan's Self-Defense Forces themselves, the timing of this punishment is also comparable to the illegal entry of Japan warships into China's territorial waters.
In addition, the most severely punished happens to be the Maritime Self-Defense Force, and only the head of the department stepped down, so it cannot be ruled out that Japan's move is also giving China an explanation. Of course, some analysts predict that this is the Japan government's plan to remove the chief of staff of the sea self.
All in all, no matter what the reason, this adjustment will have a considerable impact on the Ministry of Defense of Japan. In addition, in the past two days, Japan has also released news that Vice Speaker of the House of Representatives of the Japan Diet Kaieda will visit China later this month and hold consultations with the Chinese side on the resumption of parliamentary exchanges between Japan and China.
The meeting has also been suspended for four years, and the last time the speaker and vice speaker of the House of Representatives of Japan visited China was six years ago. Therefore, Haijiangtian's trip is of great significance to both China and Japan. This also shows that the current Japan government does not want to make Sino-Japanese relations ossified.
Especially on issues such as aquatic products and visas, Japan still has to ask China. However, if Japan only wants to do superficial work, it is unlikely that the relations between China and Japan will be substantially improved. In particular, Japan's warships have continued to provoke China in the surrounding areas, and have not created a suitable atmosphere for exchanges between the two countries.
Therefore, even if Japan's Self-Defense Forces are punished this time, Japan still needs to give China a reasonable explanation for the "Liangyue". Otherwise, it will have an extremely negative impact on Sino-Japanese relations.
#军史观察团#