February 7 became a symbolic day in terms of the international situation regarding territory and sovereignty.

On that day, Japanese Prime Minister Ishiba Shigeru and US President Donald Trump met for their first summit.

According to the statement released after the meeting, the two leaders “expressed their determination to continuously cooperate to realize a free and open Indo-Pacific.” The two leaders also “reiterated their strong opposition to any attempts by the People’s Republic of China (PRC) to change the status quo by force or coercion in the East China Sea” and “reaffirmed their strong opposition to the PRC’s unlawful maritime claims, militarization of reclaimed features, and threatening and provocative activities in the South China Sea.”

For the Taiwan issue, the two leaders “emphasized the importance of maintaining peace and stability across the Taiwan Strait as an indispensable element of security and prosperity for the international community.” Also, it is noteworthy that they “opposed any attempts to unilaterally change the status quo by force or coercion” in the context of the Taiwan issue and that they “expressed support for Taiwan’s meaningful participation in international organizations.”

For the Senkaku Islands, the two leaders “reaffirmed that Article V of the U.S.-Japan Treaty of Mutual Cooperation and Security applies to the Senkaku Islands, and reiterated their strong opposition to any action that seeks to undermine Japan’s longstanding and peaceful administration of the Senkaku Islands. “

It is important that the two leaders affirmed the concept of “a free and open Indo-Pacific” in this statement as the basis of the bilateral relations.  How to put this concept into practice by the two countries remains to be seen.

For the Japanese nationals, February 7 is ‘The Northern Territories Day”. Russia's illegal occupation of Japan's Northern Territories continues. In this context, it is important to note that, as reported, there is a movement within Russia to link the invasion of Ukraine with the occupation of the Northern Territories and to increase patriotic sentiment. The situation over territory and sovereignty in East Asia is directly linked to security issues on a global scale.

for FOIP  https://www.mofa.go.jp/policy/page25e_000278.html

for The Northern Territories

 https://www.mofa.go.jp/region/europe/russia/territory/index.html

https://www.cas.go.jp/jp/ryodo_eg/taiou/index.html#hoppou

[Statistical Data as of February 13]

Japan Coast Guard (JCG) daily updates the statistical data on the number of China Coast Guard vessels entering in the contiguous zone around the Senkaku Islands and intruding into Japanese territorial waters. The below is from the website of JCG.

https://www.kaiho.mlit.go.jp/mission/senkaku/senkaku.html