Japan and China to sign off on maritime liaison mechanism

Want China Times, Staff Reporter 2015-06-23

A standoff between Chinese and Japanese coast guard vessels in the waters

 near the Diaoyutai, July 2012. Japan would nationalize the islands a few months

later. (Photo/Xinhua)

China and Japan are likely to establish their first liaison mechanism next month to prevent a war over disputed East China Sea islands currently under the administration of Tokyo as the Senkaku (Diaoyu to China, Diaoyutai to Taiwan), reports our sister paper Want Daily.

Sources from China told Want Daily that representatives from the two nations have held five meetings to discuss the creation of a maritime liaison mechanism for members of the two nation's naval or coastal guard units to communicate with each other in English in the event of a contingency in the waters near the islands. It is very likely to be formalized in July, the sources said. Beijing has yet to decide whether it will establish a similar mechanism in the disputed South China Sea, they added.

The maritime liaison mechanism regulates Chinese and Japanese activities in the air defense identification zone, exclusive economic zone and open waters declared by both nations in the region of the East China Sea. It does not include the territorial waters and airspace of China or Japan.

According to the agreement, the People's Liberation Army Navy will notify Tokyo whenever Chinese aircraft or warships go near the waters of Okinawa in the future. The Ground Staff Office of the Japan Self-Defense Force and the General Staff Department of the PLA will also establish a hotline, according to the report.

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