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Japan’s Option in South China Sea

August 6, 2020

The webinar was held by NIICE Nepal, and it was led by Admiral Yoji Koda. Admiral Yoji Koda is Retired as Vice Admiral of Japan Maritime Self Defense Force with surface warfare specialty and he is a former Commander in Chief, Japan Maritime Self Defense Force. He is a graduate of the National Defense Academy (NDA: 1972) and from 1991-1992 he was a student of Naval Command College at the U.S. Naval War College. After 40 years of service in National Defense Academy and Japan Maritime Self Defense Force, he served as Commander in Chief, Self Defense Fleet, from 2007 until his retirement in 2008. In 2009-2011, Koda became a senior fellow at Harvard University’s Asia Center, where he worked on the Chinese naval strategy. He had served as an advisor to the National Security Secretariat. He is an (erudite) erudite strategic thinker and an engaging speaker on naval power and contemporary security subjects. Koda also is a proficient writer on maritime affairs and military history. His recent articles include: “Japanese Perspective on China’s Rise as a Naval Power,” (Harvard Asia Quarterly, Winter, 2010) and “Maritime Strategy and National Security in Japan and Britain” (Leiden and Boston, Global Oriental, 2012).

China has a strong army but is also transforming itself to be a large maritime power to achieve its appetite for building and maintaining strong maritime interests. Being a maritime power is also important for China because it depends heavily on sea lines of communication. China’s main route of imports from Africa, Australia, and North America, and its exports of Chinese commodities to the rest of the world is through the sea. Thus, maritime power is important even from an economic point of view.

In order to build maritime strength, the Chinese military strategy, also called the A2AD (Anti Access/Area Denial), is to keep the US Forces out of the Indo-Pacific region and to prevent them from making interventions during the crisis. Its main aim is to show Chinese capabilities to the Americans in order to weaken their determination and prevent their engagement in the region. In the maritime theatre, China has 3 fronts: east, west, and south. So, in order to protect itself, China needs to develop its counter majors as US Forces are spread all over and can easily attack mainland China. The A2AD Strategy of China also poses some threats to the US Forces: China’s F-21 (1000 km range) and F-26 (4000 km range) missiles can be a major threat to US Forces; the Use of Electromagnetic Pulse (EMP) devices can block major infrastructure and make a pinpoint attack on military command structures; US Forces depend heavily on the internet. Any destruction in the Sea Bed Security could harm US command and control over forces; the US is dependent on satellites for surveillance and communication. If China destroys it, US fighting capability will be reduced.

Chinese Strategic Nuclear Capability is inferior to that of the US. For example, China has no long-range strategic bombers, while the US has many; the Chinese submarine-launched JL2 Missile cannot even reach the US if fired from the South China Sea. For China, protection of the South China Sea is paramount for two reasons. Firstly, it would be the key to China’s success as it would have to deploy its Strategic Nuclear Submarine to the east of Hawaii to maintain the capability of submarine attack on the US. Secondly, it is important for China to preserve its choke points as it is heavily dependent on sea lines of communication.

There are three fundamental issues in the South China Sea: Territorial disputes among coastal nations; Issues in UNCLOS interpretation and land reclamation; Whether the South China Sea is a High Sea or Chinese claimed inland water.

Japan has an important role to play in these fundamental issues: Since Japan is a geographic outsider, it must remain neutral on territorial disputes and only act when China uses any settlement for military purposes. China maneuvered to make reclamations and develop artificial islands but Japan does not agree to it because it is not in line with UNCLOS. Japan supports free use of the sea, in accordance with UNCLOS. It says that it is the universal right of humankind.

Japan also allied with the US and their alliance is known as ‘Shield and Spear’. US forces operating around Japan do not physically defend Japan but attack the adversary’s home run and weapons. Japan in return provides operational support, military bases, and refueling during storage to the US Forces. The Quad which consists of the US, Japan, India, and Australia, also poses a threat to China because if they agree to make the military operations then China would face problems in getting out of constraints in the East China Sea and the South China Sea.

Prepared by Shriya Mishra, NIICE Intern