Japan replaces captain of destroyer accused of entering Chinese waters

The captain of a Japanese warship that reportedly entered Chinese waters this summer has been replaced, according to Japan's defense minister.

Defense Minister Minoru Kihara said at a press conference on Tuesday that the captain of the Japan Maritime Self-Defense Force destroyer JS Suzutsuki was replaced in July, but declined to name the officer or give reasons for the replacement.

Kihara also declined to confirm that the destroyer entered Chinese waters on July 4.

“Personnel transfers occur not only in the Maritime Self-Defense Forces, but also in the Ground and Air Self-Defense Forces, but we do not disclose the reason for each transfer, and this transfer is no different,” he said.

Tokyo told Beijing that the ship had accidentally entered Chinese territorial waters within 12 nautical miles off the coast of Zhejiang province, Kyodo News reported on Monday, citing unnamed diplomatic sources.

A Maritime Self-Defense Force base questioned the Suzutsuki after noticing that the ship had entered Chinese waters early on the morning of July 4. The destroyer's captain responded that he was “not aware” that the ship had entered a “restricted area,” Kyodo reported.

The officer was appointed captain of the Suzutsuki in May, a Defense Ministry spokesman said by email on Wednesday. He declined to answer questions about whether the ship entered Chinese waters on July 4.

Some Japanese government officials are allowed to speak to the media only on condition of anonymity.

In response to the incident, the ministry launched an investigation into the ship's captain, Kyodo reported on July 11.

China's maritime safety agency issued a warning on July 3 that a firing exercise would take place on July 4 and 5 in Hangzhou Bay, which borders Zhejiang to the south and Shanghai to the north. The Suzutsuki was observing the exercise when Chinese ships asked it to leave the area. Instead, however, it accelerated and sailed into Chinese waters for about 20 minutes before departing again, Kyodo reported on July 11.

According to China's Maritime Safety Law, foreign ships must make advance notification and provide a series of information before entering Chinese waters. According to the universally accepted United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea, foreign warships are generally permitted to make innocent passage through territorial waters as long as they do not pose a threat.

Chinese ships frequently enter Japanese waters near the Senkaku Islands, small islands about 170 kilometers east of Taiwan administered by Tokyo but claimed by Beijing and Taipei.

According to the Defense Ministry, a Chinese aircraft carrier sailed between Japan's westernmost island of Yonaguni and nearby Iriomote earlier this month, entering the country's “contiguous zone.”