2012.12.05
Former PM thinks retired JMSDF warships could defend Senkakus
Nearly every political leader has an idea for defending the Senkaku Islands in the East China Sea, and that includes a former Prime Minister who thinks retired Maritime Self Defense Force warships should be given the task.
Shinzo Abe, leader of the Liberal Democratic Party and the man who stands to become Prime Minister again following a national election December 16th, says retired ships and SDF reserve personnel should be transferred to the Japan Coast Guard to head the defense mission for protecting the islands. “It will take as long as two years to build new patrol vessels for the Coast Guard, even if budgets are allocated now,” he says, “and China is obviously trying to wrest control of the islands.”
The former Prime Minister says China’s sending ships to waters around the Senkaku Islands every day, and sending a message to the world that the area is Chinese sea. With that, Abe says China could say it has established effective control of the islands and ask Japan to jointly manage them.
Abe says Japan must, if need be, use physical force to prevent Chinese ships from intruding into the Japanese waters.