On June 30, local time, the Japan Broadcasting Association (NHK) reported that the large patrol ship "Asagagi" held a launching ceremony that day at the Shimonoseki Shipyard owned by Mitsubishi Heavy Industries in Yamaguchi Prefecture. According to Japanese media, the "Asagi" patrol ship has a full load displacement of more than 6,000 tons. This data is similar to the Chinese Navy's 052C destroyer and the U.S. Navy's Arleigh Burke Flight 1 destroyer. It is the largest maritime patrol ship in Japan. Due to its huge size, the "Asagi" can carry two helicopters , and can also install a 40mm rapid-fire cannon and a 20mm machine gun , which has very powerful firepower. The Japan Coast Guard stated that the "Asagi" will be officially put into service in 2023, and will be deployed to the so-called "Senkaku Islands" (that is, my country's Diaoyu Islands and affiliated islands) and nearby waters.
The "Asagagi" was launched in Shimonoseki City, Yamaguchi Prefecture on June 30.
For a long time, Japan has had ill intentions towards the Diaoyu Islands and has repeatedly sent people to board the Diaoyu Islands and its affiliated islands or enter nearby waters. The current Prime Minister of Japan, Fumio Kishida, is a die-hard right-winger. In 2013, then Foreign Minister Fumio Kishida publicly claimed that the Diaoyu Islands are Japan's "inherent territory" and that China's claim to the Diaoyu Islands is "invasion." After being elected as prime minister, Fumio Kishida repeatedly claimed that the Diaoyu Islands were "Japanese territory." At the recent G7 summit, Fumio Kishida said that China was "attacking" the Diaoyu Islands and posing an "increasingly serious threat" to Japan's "national security." In addition to confusing right and wrong in the public opinion circle, Japan is also not idle in the military field. According to NHK reports, the Shimonoseki Shipyard has built four patrol ships since 2018, and will build another one next year to match the "Asanagi" " patrol boats with the same specifications. These patrol boats will be used to confront China's coast guard ships and other official vessels on the Diaoyu Islands, and can also be deployed to the waters of Dokdo (called Takeshima in Japan) to confront South Korea.
We should be highly vigilant against Japan's actions. Although the Japan Maritime Self-Defense Force is Japan's main maritime force, it is unlikely that the Maritime Self-Defense Force will directly compete with the People's Liberation Army Navy in the short term. However, the patrol ships of the Japan Coast Guard have already had many confrontations with our country's coast guard ships, and they are my country's old rivals. On June 18, the Japan Coast Guard sent patrol boats to cover the intrusion of extreme right-wing elements into the waters near the Diaoyu Islands. The Chinese Coast Guard urgently dispatched two coast guard ships and forcefully drove away the patrol boats of the Japanese Coast Guard and the fishing boats driven by right-wingers. From this, it is not difficult to see that compared with the navies of the two countries, the confrontations between the Chinese and Japanese coast guard are more frequent and more direct. Now that the Chinese Coast Guard has launched regular patrols on the Diaoyu Islands and its affiliated islands, Japan urgently needs the powerful patrol boat to confront China. The "Asagi" has a similar size to the destroyer , and can be equipped with a large number of deadly weapons, which deserves our high vigilance.
Japan has unabashedly revealed its coveting of Chinese territory while building new types of warships with great fanfare. Faced with this situation, we must respond. Not long ago, the Chinese Navy handed over twenty-two 056-class frigates to the Coast Guard in one go. Although these 056-class frigates have dismantled the missile launch unit, they retain the 76MM main gun, 30mm rapid-fire gun and 12.7mm Heavy machine gun , very powerful firepower. In addition, our country's coast guard also owns the 818 patrol ship with a displacement of more than 3,800 tons, and the Haixun 09 class patrol ship with a displacement of more than 13,000 tons. This "10,000-ton coast guard ship " It can carry a variety of lethal or non-lethal weapons, and its combat effectiveness has a crushing advantage over coast guard ships from other countries. Even if collision and eviction are required, Haixun 09 still has huge advantages that cannot be compared. According to media reports, the Chinese Coast Guard now has more than 130 ships with a displacement of more than 1,000 tons, of which 43% have a displacement of more than 3,000 tons, ranking first in Asia.
Today, China's economic aggregate has reached three times that of Japan, and its industrial output value far exceeds Japan's. Japan's current shipbuilding capabilities are simply not enough to build a fleet that can reverse the balance of power in the Western Pacific. It can only build a few ships to make China more vigilant. If Japan wants to start a shipbuilding arms race with China, Japan may have been weighed down by a heavy economic burden before the swords between China and Japan meet. Today's Japan still fails to thoroughly reflect on the mistakes it made during World War II and still attempts to invade Chinese territory. It's just that Japan has not yet realized that China is no longer the China it was back then. Today's China's strength in all aspects cannot be shaken by Japan. Japan's construction of giant maritime patrol ships will only exacerbate regional tensions, but it will not reverse the balance of power in the region. I sincerely advise the Japanese not to covet things that do not belong to them, otherwise they will pay an extremely painful price.
