Yoichi Takahashi on China’s move to irradiate lasers: “The more provocations we make, the more out of line we are with the code of the international community.”

　Yoichi Takahashi, 70, former bureaucrat in the Ministry of Finance, counselor in the Cabinet Secretariat, economist, quantity policy scholar, and professor at Kaetsu University, was a guest on the Nippon Broadcasting System’s “Tadashi Kakihana: Happy with You! (Monday-Thursday 8:00). (Monday-Thursday 8:00 a.m.). He expressed his views on the radar irradiation of Self-Defense Forces aircraft by Chinese military aircraft. On the afternoon of June 6, a fighter jet launched from a Chinese navy aircraft carrier irradiated a Self-Defense Forces aircraft over the high seas southeast of Okinawa’s main island. Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi announced on April 7 that she would “respond calmly and resolutely” to the incident, and that she had lodged a stern protest with the Chinese side, demanding that they prevent a recurrence of the incident. The Chinese Navy responded by saying that the SDF aircraft approached and threatened the safety of its flight. Takahashi mentioned that radar irradiation is a violation of the Code for Unplanned Encounters at Sea’s (CUES), which has been adopted by 21 countries including Japan, the U.S., and China, and said, “It’s easy to understand that they said, ‘We irradiated the radar, so it is a violation of the Code. “It is easy to understand,” he said. Including this radar irradiation, U.S. President Trump has dared to remain silent. In response, Takahashi said, “If Trump doesn’t say it, any country will support the idea of a code violation, so for example, Australia, the Philippines, and I think Germany also said it the other day. So, if we can reach out to countries other than the U.S., they will agree with us. So, don’t force yourself to talk only about the U.S. The more countries you have, the better it is. China will probably only agree with Russia. So I hope that Koizumi will go around to various places and work hard in those areas. When announcer Tadashi Kakihana, one of the panelists, commented on his impression that “Defense Minister Shinjiro Koizumi has been rather resolute and has peeled off his skin,” Takahashi said, “It was just a coincidence, but I had him say it right away at the meeting with the defense minister with Australia. That was good, wasn’t it? That’s why there are so many people who criticize China,” he added. Kakihana asked, “Do you think China will escalate these kinds of provocations in the future? Takahashi replied, “I don’t know. Takahashi replied, “I don’t know, but it’s Xi Jinping. But the more provocations he makes, the more he will deviate from the codes of the international community, which is an interesting situation. Because the more you do something radical, the more you deviate from the norms of the international community. That’s what makes it fun to watch. But they did such an obvious thing as radar irradiation,” he said with a sense of disgust.