By Clint Richards
The planned purchase of drones is in response to rising regional tensions. Will they make a difference?
With additional North Korean saber-rattling on Saturday and China pushing against its South China Sea boundaries last week, Japan and the U.S. have announced a plan to increase drone patrols over North Korea and the East China Sea starting later this month. The U.S. will deploy two Global Hawk unmanned aerial vehicles from Misawa Air Base in Aomori Prefecture, and the Japanese Air Self-Defense Forces plans to acquire three of those same UAVs from 2015. While the Japanese procurement and the stationing of both countries UAVs in Misawa have been known since January this year, regional tensions have prompted officials to be more vocal about their intended use. A senior Self-Defense Force official said the drones, “will be effective in surveying the activities of North Korea and the Chinese military.”
North Korea has been threatening a new round of nuclear tests since March, and on Saturday through its official KCNA news agency stated, “it would take counter-measures including nuclear test to protect the sovereignty and dignity (of North Korea).” Another official paper, the Rodong Sinmun, said the country was justified in using all available means to counter aggressive challenges from the U.S. and South Korea.
Last week, China was at the center of a significant increase in tensions in the South China Sea in two separate events: the ramming of Vietnamese vessels as China sought to install an offshore oil rig near the Parcel Islands and the apprehension of a Chinese fishing vessel near the Half Moon Shoal by the Philippines, both in disputed territorial waters. Japan was particularly vocal in its response to China’s actions, saying it was strongly concerned about the increase in tension due to “China’s unilateral exploration.”
Read the full story at The Diplomat