Japan continues tracking mystery sub
Staff report
Japan on Thursday continued tracking an unidentified submarine that entered its territorial waters off Okinawa the previous day. Vice Defense Minister Takemasa Moriya said of the submarine, "It is navigating at an extremely slow speed and is not necessarily moving in one direction." He said it is highly possible the sub is nuclear-powered because it has spent a long time submerged. Only the United States, Russia and China have nuclear-powered subs in waters around Japan, he said. A senior Foreign Ministry official said Japan must consider the political implications of the vessel's nationality. "The Japan-China relationship is at a sensitive stage," he said, even though the sub has not yet been formally identified. Media reports have quoted government sources as saying the sub is Chinese. The Defense Agency said the submarine was in international waters west of Okinawa as of Thursday afternoon. Moriya said the agency would continue tracking the sub until its destination becomes clear. A senior agency official said the sub's slow speed and erratic course could mean it's testing the patrol and tracking capabilities of the Maritime Self-Defense Force. China aware, mum BEIJING (Kyodo) China said Thursday it is closely following the intrusion of an unidentified submarine into Japanese waters off Okinawa, but did not comment on whether it was Chinese, as suspected. "China is now paying close attention to this issue," Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Zhang Qiyue said at a regular press briefing. Asked if there were any Chinese submarines in the area, she said, "I have no information." The Japan Times: Nov. 12, 2004
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Tenuous relations between Japan and the People's Republic of China were strained last week when a Chinese nuclear-powered submarine entered Japanese territorial waters southwest of Okinawa.

The intrusion occurred on 10 November, Japanese time (UTC+9). The submarine was quickly spotted by Japan's Self-Defence Forces and was tracked by helicopter as it wandered in Japanese waters for two hours before moving north-west. International law requires a tracked submarine to surface and identify its nationality in times of peace; the submarine did not do so.

Many Japanese officials in the Defence Agency considered the intrusion an act of provocation and "showing off," as the submarine in question was a particularly noisy model. It continued traveling very slowly after being spotted, and remained in shallow waters. The intrustion caused Japanese Self-Defense Forces to go on alert for the second time since the Second World War.

The submarine in question is believed to be a Type 09-1 Han Class attack submarine. It is a nuclear-powered submarine designed in the 1950s and first built in the 1974. This class of submarine is thought to suffer numerous defects, including radiation leakage, noise, and an inability to fire missiles while submerged. Only two of five submarines are thought to be operational. China has recently begun an active modernization of its navy.

On 17 November, Chinese Vice Foreign Minister Wu Daiwei met with the Japanese ambassador to China Anami Koreshige in Beijing and offered an apology for the incident, stating that the submarine was on a training mission and the intrusion was due to a "technical error" and was "regrettable." Japan's Defence Agency is studying whether "technical errors" is a feasible explanation for the incident.

Japanese Prime Minister Koizumi Junichiro has publicly stated he wishes to speak with Chinese President Hu Jintao about this and other matters of Sino-Japanese contention at the upcoming annual Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation summit in Chile later this month.

Despite the increasingly close economic ties between the two nations, distrust has long exisited between Japan and China. Many Chinese people still resent the Japanese invasion and occupation of China during World War II and Japan's refusal to formally apologise. Japan, on the other hand, sees China as a potential competitor and an increasing threat to its national security.

Japan's Constitution forbids the nation from exercising military strength in matters other than that of self-defence, but Japan's ruling party, the Liberal Democratic Party or LDP, has recently proposed constitutional amendments to give the military more offensive capabilities, among other things.