On June 17, DP Next Minister for Foreign Affairs Akihisa
Nagashima and Next Minister of Defence Atsushi Oshima released the
following statement.
Yesterday afternoon a naval vessel from China intruded into
the contiguous zone near Kitadaito Island in Okinawa Prefecture.
This incident has occurred shortly after the Chinese Navy’s
intrusion into the contiguous zone off the coast of the Senkaku
Islands on June 9 and intrusion into Japan’s territorial waters
west of Kuchinoerabu Island, Kagoshima Prefecture, on June 15. We
vehemently protest the Chinese side’s stance of unilaterally
heightening tension with these repeated actions over a short space
of time.
The response by the Prime Minister’s Office to this emergency
situation that affects the security of Japan can only be described
as extremely inadequate and lacking a sense of urgency. In
particular, immediately after the situation arose on June 15, both
the Prime Minister and the Chief Cabinet Secretary were absent from
the Prime Minister’s Office for election campaigning, which we must
conclude to be exceedingly inappropriate. We call on the Government
to promptly amend its crisis-management structure and take all
possible precautions to prepare for unforeseen contingencies, with
a greater sense of urgency.
Furthermore, we, the Democratic Party of Japan, previously
submitted to the Diet a “Territorial Security Act” aimed at
resolutely protecting Japan’s territorial land, waters and air
space. The Abe administration should recognize the importance of
this territorial security, and ensure that this act is enacted as
quickly as possible.