A Chinese warship
Is tracked by Japan and Taiwan
Is a new alliance forming?
Welcome to China Uncensored, I’m Chris Chappell.
This episode has been sponsored by Surfshark—because you should
be protecting your identity whenever you go online by using a VPN like Surfshark.
The Chinese Communist Party is engaged in territorial disputes with basically
all of its neighbors. The problem for China is, sometimes,
when you bully people too much, they eventually start to team up. Against you.
And that may be what’s happening with Taiwan and Japan.
It seems like Taiwan and Japan teamed up to track a Chinese warship.
Both sides are being pretty quiet about it, but here’s what we know.
According to a Japanese Defense Ministry announcement, a Chinese warship, the Binzhou,
was caught in the East China Sea. That’s where China and Japan have a territorial dispute
over some uninhabited islands. It sailed through what's called the Miyako Strait.
The Binzhou sailed through the narrow waters between Taiwan and Japan’s
Westernmost inhabited island, Yonaguni. That’s only 70 miles from Taiwan’s coast.
Three Japanese ships tracked it. But on May 1, this satellite image was released.
It shows that a Taiwanese warship was also there, tracking the Chinese ship.
“Taipei’s Apple Daily described it as the first joint surveillance operation
between Taiwan and Japan.”
However, Taiwan’s defense ministry didn’t confirm that. It just said they track any
Chinese warship sailing through designated areas. And remember, it was close to Taiwan.
A Taiwan defense official said, the Binzhou’s “crew was likely on a training and
intelligence-gathering mission,” and “‘did not pose a serious threat’ to Taiwan’s security.’”
I mean, not a serious threat, other than the fact China has promised to conquer
Taiwan. Which is what all China’s training and intelligence-gathering missions are for.
And China’s People’s Liberation Army didn’t stop there.
While the Binzhou warship was sailing between Taiwan and Japan, five Chinese fighter jets
flew into Taiwan’s air defense identification zone—this time between Taiwan and the Philippines.
“According to Taipei's Defense Ministry,
a Chinese Y-8 anti-submarine warfare aircraft crossed the Bashi Channel.”
The Bashi Channel the Chinese aircraft flew over, and the Miyako Strait the Binzhou sailed through,
are both very important strategic locations.
They’re among the few waterways the Chinese military has of exiting the first island chain.
They can be used to give or cut off access between the South China Sea and the Pacific.
In other words, these are territorial waters the Chinese Communist Party
must take in order to secure a grip on the region. So the Communist Party is being
very clear about its long-term goals. Which are obviously concerning to both Japan and Taiwan.
And while the two countries don’t have official diplomatic relations,
there are signs that ties are warming.
Yes, despite Japan having occupied Taiwan for 50 years,
they can still be friends. And for that, you can thank China.
And this episode is sponsored by Surfshark.
Whenever you go online, you should be using a VPN like Surfshark to protect
your identity. Everything you do online is being tracked and logged—by the websites you visit
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And if you’re in an authoritarian country like China
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So I recommend you use Surfshark to protect yourself online.
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With one account, you can connect as many devices as you want.
Try it out with a 30-day money back guarantee.
And Surfshark has a special discount for China Uncensored fans. Go to surfshark.com/uncensored
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Click the link below.
Once again, I’m Chris Chappell. See you next time.