It is important to preserve and utilize Japan's abundant maritime rights and interests while maintaining the safety of a vast ocean. Relevant ministries and agencies must cooperate to make progress in implementing diversified measures.
The government has put together a draft of the next-term Basic Plan on Ocean Policy. The new basic plan will serve as guidelines for the government's maritime policy during a five-year period starting in fiscal 2018. It will be finalized as a Cabinet decision as early as late April.
The draft is characterized by emphasizing the measures aimed at maintaining this country's security and public safety, stating that "our nation's maritime rights and interests are exposed to more threats and risks than ever before."
Last year, a succession of boats believed to be North Korean drifted ashore along the Sea of Japan coast, increasing the anxiety felt by local residents. There was also a criminal case in which crewmen committed theft after unlawfully landing on a beach.
It is said that the Japan Coast Guard and other relevant authorities failed to sufficiently ascertain the situation of suspicious boats adrift at sea. A massive number of evacuees might rush to Japan if a military emergency erupts on the Korean Peninsula, which could even allow underground operatives to sneak their way into this country.
There is a pressing need to secure sufficient budgetary appropriations related to such efforts as increasing the number of patrol boats tasked with vigilance and surveillance activities, while also systematically fostering personnel for that task.
It has become almost normal for government ships from China to intrude into Japan's territorial waters around the Senkaku Islands in Okinawa Prefecture. In January, a Chinese military submarine was confirmed to be sailing in a contiguous zone.
It is indispensable for the relevant ministries and agencies to cooperate in responding seamlessly to maritime crises in accordance with their degree of urgency.
Promote public understanding
The government intends to facilitate the development of a mechanism for maritime domain awareness (MDA) that would integrate maritime data. The MDA approach was hammered out by the United States after simultaneous terrorist attacks took place there in 2001.
Measures would be taken to immediately collate the maritime data gathered by the JCG, the Fisheries Agency and other organizations, as well as the information collected by artificial satellites, thereby enabling the public and private sectors to share these data. The government plans to allow only certain government organs to view security-related information.
The envisaged system is expected to help locate unidentified boats at an early stage, secure the safety of maritime traffic and make smooth progress in responding to natural disasters. Problems facing the MDA scheme include building a system for displaying data in an easy-to-see manner.
Steady efforts must be made to realize the MDA setup with the assistance of the United States.
The draft includes a plan for the utilization of marine resources that entails measures to grasp the amount of the resources and promote technological development in this field, in preparation for the pursuit of commercial purposes. Progress in this should be made through industry-academy-government cooperation.
It was reasonable to incorporate a policy of becoming actively involved in laying down international rules regarding the Arctic Ocean, where there has been a reduction in the amount of sea ice due to global warming.
The Basic Law on Ocean Policy was enforced in 2007. The government deserves praise for promoting such efforts as extending our country's continental shelf and protecting remote islands, with its Headquarters for Ocean Policy as a key organ issuing relevant directives.
It is also important to deepen the public's understanding about and interest in the ocean. Steady efforts should be made to promote maritime education.
(From The Yomiuri Shimbun, April 4, 2018)
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