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China’s Activities in East China , Pacific , and Sea of

October 2020 Japan Ministry of Defense Summary: PLA Activities around Japan

● China has broadly and rapidly reinforced its forces, based on high-level increase of its national defense budget ● It is believed that China aims to build up capabilities to conduct operations in more distant waters and airspace ● China has rapidly expanded maritime activities both in qualitative and quantitative ways

Examples Aircraft Vessels Advancement to Passage through territorial Okinotori waters Yokosuka *Broken lines represent activities of information gathering ships Sea of Japan Yaku Island Kitadaito Island Amamioshima Activities in Sea Island Kuchinoerabu of Japan Okinawa Miyako Island Oil and gas field “ Air Defense East China Yonaguni Island Identification Zone” Sea Taiwan Ningbo Qingdao Intense Activities S北pr京atly in East China Sea Islands Descriptions and locations of each event Paracel Islands Activities in South are solely for illustration purpose, based on China Sea media reports. Locations of Island Chains are “Nine-Dash Line” based on U.S. DoD Reports. 1 Increase of National Defense Budget

2 China’s Defense Budget China’s Announced Defense budget Some think that China’s announced defense budget is a mere part of China’s real defense-related expenditures and does not include major categories such as R&D expenses and foreign procurement It is pointed out that actual military-related spending is higher than stated in the official budget, estimated at more than $200 billion in 2019（U.S. DoD “China Military Power Report 2020”）.

(100 million yuan) Approx. 1,270 billion yuan

Announced Defense Budget

Approx. 24.6 billion CNY JPN

2020 10%+ increase for 21 years 10%+ increase for 5 years (1989～2009) (2011～2015) Approx. 44-fold increase during the last 30 years （Approx. 2.4-fold increase during the last 10 years）

※ There are limits to the comparisons of national defense budgets which have simply been converted into foreign currency when the different elements are taken into consideration, such as each country’s price levels. However, to simplify the comparison, this graph dares to represent the Japan’s defense-related expenditures and China’s announced defense budget that has been converted into yen using the exchange rate published by the Ministry of Finance Japan (MOFJ) each fiscal year (FY). 3 East China Sea, West Pacific Ocean and Sea of Japan

4 China’s Activities in East China Sea Source(including picture):Joint Staff

China’s naval vessels have recently tended to expand the area of their regular Naval Forces activities to the south They are continuously operating in the area near Japan’s Senkaku Islands East China Sea In June 2016, a frigate of the PLAN entered Japan’s contiguous zone around the Senkaku Islands (This was the first time when a PLAN combatant vessel entered Japan’s contiguous zone around the Senkakus)（Shown as an orange arrow in the figure） PLAN intelligence gathering vessels (AGIs) have also been found conducting activities near the Senkaku Islands multiple times（Shown as blue arrows in the figure） In January 2018, a Chinese submerged submarine entered Senkaku Islands the Japanese contiguous zone around the Senkaku Islands. The PLAN submarine that entered Japan’s contiguous zone around the (This was the first time for MOD to confirm and announce Senkaku Islands it.) On the same day, a frigate of the PLAN entered the Japanese contiguous zone （Shown as a green arrow in the figure） ※ Image In June 2020, a submarine, which is assumed to be affiliated with China, navigated underwater within Japan’s contiguous zone （Shown as a pink arrow in the figure）

The number of scrambles by the ASDF against Chinese aircraft remains big Air Forces ⇒Hitting the biggest in FY 2016 The scope of activities of PLA aircraft in the East China Sea has tended to expand eastward and southward The scope of activities of PLA aircraft near the Senkaku Islands has tended to expand southward ・ In June 2016, PLA aircraft flew southward Southwestern Islands closer to the Senkaku Islands

Senkaku Islands Su-30 fighter Tu-154 ELINT

2tｎｄ Q ※ Image The number of Japan’s press releases of Scrambles against Examples of military aircraft confirmed near Japan Chinese Aircraft（by FY） 5 China’s Advancement into Pacific Ocean Source(including picture):Joint Staff

As of October 31, 2020 25 Naval Forces 21 【Enhancing deployment capabilities to the open ocean】 ⑤ 20 15 15 14 14 Advancement of Chinese naval fleets to the Pacific Ocean with 15 13 high frequency 12 12 9 More diverse routes 10 ① 5 4 • ①The , ②Waters between the Okinawa Main 5 3 2 Island and Miyako Island, ③The Osumi Starit, ④Waters 0 between Yonaguni Island and Nakanokami Island, ⑤The Soya 08 09 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 Strait, ⑥Waters between Amamioshima Island and Yokoatejima Island The number of Japan’s press releases that surface combatants operate in WPO passing through Nansei Islands（Year） 【Enhancing operation capabilities on the open ocean】 ③ Three naval fleets’ joint exercise in the PO ② ⑥ In December 2016, April 2018, June 2019 and April 2020, the 1st island chain aircraft carrier “Liaoning” advanced to the PO（★） In April 2018 and April 2020, flights by probable carrier-borne ④ ★ fighters from CV “Liaoning” were spotted for the first time （＊） ( ) ※ Chinese aircraft carrier “Liaoning” transitting the sea area (＊) image between the main island of Okinawa and Miyako Island

Four H-6 bombers (Pink), one Y-8 SIGINT (Green), one Four + four H-6 bombers (Green & Bulue), one Six H-6 bombers (Red) Air Forces Tu-154 SIGINT (Black), two fighters[est.] (Yellow) Y-8 SIGINT (Yellow), one Y-8 EW (Red) 【Flights to/from the Pacific Ocean through the main island of Okinawa and Miyako Island】 More diverse types of aircraft • Y-8 AEW, H-6 bombers, Y-8 SIGINT, Y-9 SIGINT, September 2016 July 2017 August 2018 Tu-154 SIGINT, Su-30 fighter, Y-8 EW Flight paths near Japan（Examples） As of October 31, 2020 18 18 More diverse routes 16 14 12 10 10 8 5 5 6 5 5 6 3 【SDF’s Response】 4 2 SDF aircraft conduct scrambles in accordance with 0 international law and the SDF Law 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 A H-6 bomber that advanced to the sea The number of Japan’s press releases on China’s military aircraft’s flights near the Kii Peninsula through the strait between the main island of Okinawa and Miyako Island（Year）6 China’s Advancement into Sea of Japan Source(including picture):Joint Staff Naval Forces Possible that China’s activities by naval and air forces in the Sea of Japan will become more active hereafter “Confrontation exercise” ※ by the Chinese naval fleet was announced for the first time in August 2016. Naval vessels and aircraft The expeditions using, Chinese icebreaker, “Xuelong”(1999-) conducted joint training in the same area in Fuchi class replenishment oiler Dalao class Submarine rescue ship January 2017 as well. ※Practical exercises in the form of confrontation China and held the naval joint exercise “Joint Sea” in the Sea of Japan off the coast of Vladiostok in 2013, 2015, and 2017. Some of Chinese vessels that sailed through ※ northward in order to participate in “Joint Sea 2017” After “Joint Sea 2015”, Naval vessels passed To the Northern Sea Route through the Soya Strait to the （★） （★） CHN-RUS Joint Ex. ”Joint Sea” To the Bering Sea (2013, 2015, 2017) Air forces In January 2016, Chinese aircraft for the first （★） time operated in the Sea of Japan. In July 2019, Chine and Russia made a joint Confrontation Ex. flight from Sea of Japan toward the East China Sea with China stating that it was “the Luzhou-class destroyer first joint strategic patrol” Qingdao Aircraft confirmed in Tsushima Strait （ As of October 31, 2020 Chinese H-6 (upper) 10 Fleet HQ） 8 Russian Tu-90（lower） Jiangkai II-class frigate 8 6 5 Shanghai 4 3 2 2 2 0 16 17 18 19 20 CHN-RUS Joint Ex. ”Joint Sea” 2019 ※ Image. The routes and areas of The number of Japan’s press releases that PLA aircraft fly through exercises are estimates Tsushima Strait（/Year） 7