Opinion | On South China Sea, Japan should not play a disruptive role

On April 9, Japan and the Philippines held their first “2+2” meeting of foreign and defence ministers in Tokyo. In a joint statement issued after the meeting, Japan and the Philippines expressed serious concerns over the situation in the East China Sea and the South China Sea, while stressing the importance of peace and stability in the region and its maritime security. The statement said the United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea (Unclos) is a vital element for regional peace and prosperity.

Japan concurred with the Philippines’ long-standing objections to illegal maritime claims, militarisation, coercive activities, and the threat or use of force in the South China Sea and supports the 2016 South China Sea arbitration award. The Philippines stressed that the South China Sea arbitration award is “final” and legally binding”.

This again confirms that Japan regards the Philippines as its strategic security point in the Western Pacific region and the focus of its involvement in the South China Sea issue.

As an important ally of the United States in the Asia-Pacific region, Japan continued to make attempts to exert influence on the South China Sea issue. Shunji Yanai, the then president of the International Tribunal for the Law of the Sea who appointed three judges to the South China Sea arbitration tribunal, had as early as 2013 served in Japan as chairman of the Advisory Panel for the Prime Minister on Reconstruction of the Legal Basis for Security. The panel’s main function is to seek legal basis and provide theoretical support for the Japanese government to amend the constitution, lift the ban on the right of collective self-defence, and strengthen the Japan-US alliance.

In recent years, Japan has been criticising China on the South China Sea issue from various perspectives such as diplomacy, public opinion, international law and military affairs. The most obvious approach is critiquing China for its South China Sea policies and activities at international conferences and at bilateral or multilateral meetings.