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Courtesy of the Japan Coast Guard’s 11th regional headquarters A China Coast Guard vessel that had been spotted near the Senkaku Islands in Okinawa Prefecture, on Dec. 7
The Yomiuri Shimbun
17:47 JST, January 1, 2025
The Chinese navy and the China Coast Guard (CCG) in December jointly carried out activities similar to a naval blockade in the Miyako Strait located between the main island of Okinawa and Miyako Island. A heavily armed CCG fleet was also dispatched to areas near the Senkaku Islands in Okinawa Prefecture, The Yomiuri Shimbun has learned.
This is the first confirmation of activities of either kind, according to multiple sources close to the government. The government is reportedly exercising increased caution, believing that China may be considering an expanded naval blockade area in the event of a Taiwan contingency. “This is an unusual move that indicates China’s intention to impose a naval blockade,” one of the sources said.
According to the sources, a total of six ships — two Chinese navy Jiangkai II class frigates and one Jiangkai I class frigate and three CCG vessels, including the 2901 — sailed from the Pacific Ocean side to the East China Sea side of the Miyako Strait on Dec. 22. Before the move, the three naval ships are believed to have sailed around the island of Taiwan and the Sakishima Islands counterclockwise as if encircling them.
The CCG 2901 is a 10,000-ton-class ship, one of the world’s largest vessels owned by a maritime law enforcement agency. Two of the CCG ships were reportedly equipped with 76 mm cannons, which are usually installed on military ships.
Joint navigation by Chinese naval and coast guard vessels was also confirmed in the summer of 2023 in an area between Yonaguni Island and Taiwan.
For an invasion of Taiwan, China would be expected to first use naval and coast guard vessels to impose a naval blockade around Taiwan and then shift to missile attacks as well as landing and other operations. The recent activities by China could mean that its planned blockade area also extends to the waters near the Senkaku Islands and the Sakishima Islands.
The Yomiuri Shimbun investigated data from the Automatic Identification System (AIS), which automatically transmits and receives information on ships such as their type, location and course and found that the CCG vessels turned off their AIS signals while they sailed in the Miyako Strait together with the naval ships, despite having them on near the Senkaku Islands.
Since military vessels turn off their AIS signals during operations, the CCG vessels are likely to have joined in with China’s naval operations in secret.
More highly armed
A four-vessel CCG fleet equipped with 76 mm cannons sailed in Japan’s contiguous zone near the Senkaku Islands on Dec. 6. It was the first time that all four vessels to be armed with the cannons, according to sources close to the Japanese government.
Navies around the world use 76 mm cannons, and they are also installed on Maritime Self-Defense Force escort ships. According to Chinese media, such cannons are the main armament on Jiangkai II class frigates. The maximum firing range of a 76 mm cannon is about 10 to 15 kilometers, and it is capable of firing 60 to 120 rounds per minute.
A CCG vessel equipped with a 76 mm cannon was confirmed to have entered territorial waters near the Senkaku Islands for the first time in November 2022.
The Yomiuri Shimbun examined data that has been released since January 2024 by the Japan Coast Guard’s11th regional headquarters based in Naha, which has jurisdiction over the Senkaku Islands. According to the data, only one in a four-vessel CCG fleet was armed with a cannon and other weapons up to May. Since then, all vessels have been armed with automatic cannons or larger-caliber 76 mm cannons.
In mid-December, China sent about 90 naval and coast guard vessels into waters around Taiwan and conducted exercises, rehearsing for a possible naval blockade around the island. Regarding the four CCG ships that appeared near the Senkaku Islands, an informed source said, “We can’t exclude the possibility that they operated in collaboration with those vessels.”
China views new Taiwanese President Lai Ching-te as a worker for Taiwan’s independence and an enemy. Since he took office in May, China is believed to have increased pressure in the waters around Taiwan, including areas around the Senkaku Islands.
The largest cannon deployed on a JCG patrol vessel is a 40 mm cannon with a maximum range of about 5 kilometers, around one-third that of the 76 mm cannons.
CCG vessels are allowed to use weapons if China’s sovereignty is violated under a law implemented in 2021. The law also states that the CCG can carry out defense operations under the orders of China’s Central Military Commission and the CCG is now called China’s “second navy.”
It is possible that heavily armed CCG vessels will be operated on a regular basis and in a more integrated manner with the Chinese navy and will put more pressure on Taiwan and Japan in the future.
