Official sources from the Japanese government revealed on Monday that the decision has been made not to disclose its evidence of China‘s usage of weapons targeting radar on military ships based. This is because Japan does not want to reveal its intelligence operations or any other security secrets.
The Tokyo government was originally looking at releasing its proof after China denied using the radar on Self-Defense Force (SDF) ships twice in January in waters near the disputed Senkaku/Diaoyu Islands. The unnamed source from the Defense Ministry has now stated that any disclosure would be a great risk to the country’s protection measures, as Chinese military authorities would be able to pour over SDF secrets on how they gather intelligence. Another official said that making their evidence public would reveal the “subtleties” of Japanese securities.
Among the evidence is said to be analysis data of the radio waves the SDF ship received, as well as photos and video taken at the time of the radar usage. However, the government will not be making an official announcement over its decision not to disclose its proof, as it wants to maintain pressure on China after the tension-escalating incidents. The fact that the U.S. voiced its support for Tokyo’s allegations has also added to Japan’s feeling of it being unnecessary to release the data. The Chinese Foreign Ministry, in turn, has accused Japan of “hyping” the incident in an effort to tarnish China’s image, along with denying the use of radar, and then claiming its was only monitoring radar and not weapons-related.
[via Kyodo]