Photo/Illutration The Maritime Self-Defense Force destroyer Sazanami participates in an international fleet parade off Singapore in 2017. (Asahi Shimbun file photo)

Prime Minister Fumio Kishida gave the green light to sending a Maritime Self-Defense Force destroyer through the Taiwan Strait on Sept. 25 as a deterrent to China's increasingly aggressive actions, according to government sources. 

"We made the decision considering China's recent actions and Japan's domestic political situation," a government official explained, preventing a "policy vacuum" during the Liberal Democratic Party's leadership election. 

The sources revealed that the decision to send an MSDF vessel through the strait had been under consideration for some time.

The MSDF's Sazanami passed southward through the Taiwan Strait on Sept. 25 along with battleships from Australia and New Zealand. The voyage marked the first time an SDF vessel sailed through the international waterway. 

Western nations including the United States and Britain have sent naval vessels through the strait. However, Japan has historically been more cautious due to the waterway's proximity to China and Beijing's sensitive stance on Taiwan as a core interest.

However, recent increases in Chinese military activities around Japan have led to growing calls within the Japanese Defense Ministry to take a more assertive posture.

On the same day of the Sazanami's passage through the strait, China test-fired an intercontinental ballistic missile into the Pacific Ocean for the first time in 44 years.

On Aug. 26, a Chinese reconnaissance plane intruded into Japanese airspace for the first time off the coast of Nagasaki Prefecture.

Tetsuo Kotani, a professor at Meikai University specializing in security issues, praised Japan’s decision.

"This sends a clear message to China that Japan is willing to take actions that Beijing opposes," he said. "It's not a good situation when China can do whatever it wants. Mutual deterrence is necessary to manage tensions."

The United States has long led efforts to send naval vessels through the Taiwan Strait as a means to deter Chinese military pressure on Taiwan.

Given the shared concerns between Tokyo and Washington regarding Taiwan, it is highly likely that Japan coordinated its recent actions with the United States.

However, such actions also carry risks of accidental clashes. The annual meeting between defense officials of Japan and China, a crucial communication channel to prevent unexpected developments, has not been held since 2021.

Gen. Yoshihide Yoshida, the chief of staff of the SDF's Joint Staff, emphasized the importance of maintaining open lines of military-to-military communications to prevent miscalculations.

(This article was written by Nobuhiko Tajima and Nen Satomi.)

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