Speaking on Sunday, at the conclusion of U. S. Defense Secretary James Mattis\u2019 two-day visit to Japan, Japanese Defense Minister Tomomi Inada said during a television interview that Japan\u2019s Self-Defense Force (SDF) would not deploy to the South China Sea with the United States Navy.
\u201cI told Secretary Mattis that Japan supports the U. S. military\u2019s freedom of navigation operation in the sea,\u201d Inada said on Sunday, according to Japan\u2019s Jiji news agency, citing comments by Inada during the interview. \u201cBut the SDF will not be sent to the area,\u201d Inada clarified.
\u201cJapan will play its role through defense cooperation and training,\u201d she added. Japan, while an interested observer in the South China Sea disputes and a supporter of international law and the peaceful settlement of disputes, has not carried out operations in the area outside of training and drills.
Inada\u2019s remarks don\u2019t represent any novelty in Japan\u2019s approach to the South China Sea disputes and the SDF\u2019s involvement in the area.
In a September 2016 address in Washington, D. C., Inada laid out three primary ways in which Japan would seek to grow its involvement in the region. Direct military involvement or patrols were not on the list, which included \u201cMaritime Self Defense Force joint training cruises with the U. S. Navy, bilateral and multilateral exercises with regional navies, as well as providing capacity building assistance to coastal nations.\u201d
\u201cI would like to underline my government\u2019s resolve to protect our territorial integrity and sovereignty,\u201d Inada had said then. \u201cTo this end, we will continue our own defense efforts and also maintain and enhance the Japan-U. S. alliance.\u201d
China has rejected any role for Japan, with its envoy to Japan telling Japanese officials that any SDF participation in U. S.-led freedom of navigation operations would cross a \u201cred line.\u201d
\u201cWe are firmly opposed to Japanese attempts to send its self-defense forces to join the so-called Freedom of Navigation operations by the U. S. in the South China Sea,\u201d Colonel Wu Qian, spokesperson for the Chinese Ministry of National Defense, further clarified last August.
The Japanese Maritime Self-Defense Force (MSDF) and the U. S. Navy held their first joint exercise in the South China Sea in October 2015.<\/p>\n