Japan takes steps to reinforce its jurisdiction over home waters

Japan's Coast Guard vessel.
Source: Wikipedia

Ever since the September 2010 incident that involved a Chinese trawler and a Japanese Coast Guard (JCG) vessel close to Senkaku Islands, the Japanese government has been revising a set of laws that regulate the jurisdiction and mission of the Coast Guard to oversee territorial waters. The incident was widely broadcasted, including in major Western media outlets, and provoked a serious politico-diplomatic spat between China and Japan. Eventually, Beijing would beef-up its response to Japanese sovereign rights and cut its supply of rare earth materials to highly dependent Japan. As China holds approximately 97% of the planet's resources in rare earth fracas, and given the importance of this resource to the high-technology economic sectors, some questions arose as to the possibility of China playing the monopoly card in its diplomacy with other powerful countries (the United States included).

Today, another important step was made as the Diet recently approved a set of bills that will give JCG more powers to tackle Japan's key interests at sea. The new bills, if enacted at the end of the current Diet session, will constitute a landmark in the country's legal history, particularly in its maritime realm. In short, these are the new powers the Coast Guard has been entrusted:

1. Right to name uninhabited islands, which has caused some concerns on the Chinese side, considering the long standing territorial disputes over Senkaku Islands.
2. Force foreign ships out of its territorial waters without having to conduct onboard inspections as to their illegal activities (the right to do so still remains, but it is optional).
3. Investigate cases of physical damage to property installed in uninhabited islands, such as lighthouses, scientific equipment and so forth, and proceed with arrests of suspects.
4. Question people onshore for information pertaining to illegal activities in home waters.

If and when enacted, these bills will have very important consequences for the enforcement of Japanese jurisdiction over its maritime domain. For the men at sea, these changes on the legal framework for carrying out their missions will hopefully allow them to do a better job in safer conditions, albeit the inherent risks of such service. Considering the record Japan has in dealing with security affairs in the postwar period, this change comes as no surprise. Due to the legal interpretations of Article 9 of the Constitution, Japan's posture in engaging with threats has been severely hampered, for it might undermine the very dichotomy of a face-off between opposites. If one side knows the other is greatly constrained in its response to the former's actions, there is, theoretically, a greater possibility of the situation escalating. Though the case at hand is not one of conflict but of competition, a softer approach by Japanese authorities could indeed incite more Chinese fishermen to come and exploit Japan's western seas' fish stocks.

What these bills will do is even the scales and provide a more robust posturing by the Coast Guard to fence off other vessels. They will also give the Coast Guard the option to do onboard inspections, or to skip such procedures, in case it does not seek to pursue legal action. We know that fines for illegal fishing are being expanded both in South Korea and in Japan in order to make the activity a little less promising for Chinese trawlers looking for economic gains in a national overcrowded market. But these inspections come at a risk, one that became all too evident to South Korea's Coast Guard when one of their serviceman was fatally stabbed by a Chinese fishermen that resisted approach, whilst wounding two others back in December 2011.

Footage of the Chinese trawler colliding against JCG vessel.
Source: Youtube (what video: here)

But this leaves us with one question: how can the Coast Guard hold off foreign vessels without potentially violent means? I am not too sure about the provisions made in the United Nations Convention on Law of the Seas (UNCLOS), but maybe Japan could learn a few lessons from the ongoing counter-piracy efforts off the coast of Somalia and apply them in this context. Here's a short of some of the options available:

• Long Range Acoustic Device (LRAD)
• Lasers, LEDS and light devices to hinder the offender's visibility
• Vehicle-mounted Active Denial System (V-MADS)
• High-pressure water pumps

All being non-lethal, I wonder if they could be escape interpretation under the war potential clause expressed in Article 9, paragraph 2 of the Constitution, and therefore be employed to counter illegal fishing activities under extreme circumstances - such as having a trawler heading towards your coast guard vessel at full speed.