China fired warning shots at U.S. ally warship

As tensions between China and Japan — a U.S. defense treaty ally — continue to mount, fueled by territorial disputes, details of a precarious incident involving a Japanese warship being fired upon by the Chinese military have emerged. Knewz.com has learned that a Japanese Maritime Self-Defense Force destroyer faced at least two warning shots from Chinese vessels as it mistakenly entered Chinese territorial waters in the East China Sea.

What happened

Details of the tense situation, which took place in July 2024, only recently surfaced after diplomatic sources revealed the incident to Kyodo News. According to a report, the JS Suzutsuki, a Japanese Maritime Self-Defense Force destroyer, was monitoring Chinese military drills from international waters. It then sailed into Chinese waters for about 20 minutes, coming within 12 nautical miles of the coast of China’s Zhejiang province. Chinese vessels’ warnings to the destroyer to change course were ignored, leading China’s military to fire a warning shot just before the Suzutsuki entered Chinese territorial waters. Another shot was fired after the ship crossed over, diplomatic sources said.

Japan’s mistake

The destroyer’s move into Chinese territorial waters was seemingly inadvertent. A crew error was to blame, sources said, explaining that the Japanese ship’s electronic navigational chart display failed to reveal the boundary between international and territorial waters because a switch wasn’t turned on.

China’s explanation

Vessels that fly under foreign flags are allowed to travel through territorial waters under the principle of innocent passage, according to the United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea. However China requires foreign warships to get permission before entering territorial waters. “In accordance with relevant stipulations of Chinese laws, foreign military vessels must obtain approval from the Chinese government before entering China’s territorial waters,” Lin Jian, China’s Foreign Ministry spokesperson, said. “For foreign military vessels that enter China’s territorial waters without approval, the Chinese side will handle the matter in accordance with the laws and regulations.”

The fallout

Last September, Japan’s then-Defense Minister Minoru Kihara confirmed that the Suzutsuki’s captain had been replaced after just two months in the role. But at the time, a reason for the leadership change wasn’t given. It now seems it could be tied to what China — which has called for Japan to investigate the incident and make changes to ensure such an error doesn’t happen again — described as an “illegal and improper move” on the part of the Japanese navy, Newsweek reported.

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