 Japan taps nationalist Inada for defence chief Tokyo (AFP) Aug 3, 2016 - Prime Minister Shinzo Abe on Wednesday picked a close confidante with staunchly nationalist views as the new defence minister, a move likely to raise concerns in China and South Korea. Lawyer-turned-politician Tomomi Inada, 57, becomes the second woman to oversee the defence ministry after Yuriko Koike, who served briefly in 2007. Koike was elected governor of Tokyo on Sunday. Inada, a four-term lawmaker, was formerly policy chief of Abe's ruling Liberal Democratic Party and shares his hawkish views on Japan's 20th century history. Inada, who replaces Gen Nakatani, was named to the post as part of a partial revamp by Abe of his cabinet after the LDP's big win in upper house parliamentary elections last month. Her appointment came on the same day North Korea, a major security headache for Japan, fired a ballistic missile that landed just 250 kilometres (155 miles) off its coast -- hitting Japanese-controlled waters for the first time. Inada, a mother of two children, has a history of irritating Asian neighbours such as China and South Korea. She has been a regular visitor to Tokyo's contentious Yasukuni war shrine and has played a leading role in an LDP study group launched last year to review Japan's history, reportedly taking up contentious issues such as the Nanjing massacre and the Tokyo war crimes trials. In 2011 she and two other conservative Japanese politicians had planned to visit Ulleung island, the closest South Korean territory to the Seoul-controlled Dokdo islands in the Sea of Japan (East Sea), which are known in Japan as Takeshima. They flew to a Seoul airport to push Tokyo's claim to the disputed islands and refused to fly back home for hours after their entry to South Korea was denied. Japan is also embroiled in long-running territorial disputes with China and Russia. In the cabinet revamp announced by Chief Cabinet Secretary Yoshihide Suga, Abe left most key posts untouched, with Fumio Kishida, the foreign minister, and Taro Aso, finance minister and deputy prime minister, keeping their posts. Abe also tapped Suga, his right-hand man, to stay on. Besides Inada, other new picks include Hiroshige Seko for economy, trade and industry minister and previous environment minister Tamayo Marukawa as the minister in charge of the 2020 Tokyo Olympics.
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The Philippines told its fishermen Wednesday to steer clear of a fishing ground in the disputed South China Sea to avoid harassment from Chinese authorities.
The warning came despite a recent ruling by a UN-backed tribunal in favour of the Philippines, as it dismissed China's territorial claims to large swathes of the waters.
Beijing angrily rejected the court's judgement and on Tuesday it announced penalties for "illegal" fishing in its waters including the disputed areas.
"We are aware that China is occupying Scarborough Shoal, so let us wait for clarity on how our fishermen can return there without being subjected to harassment anymore," Manila's foreign affairs spokesman Charles Jose told reporters.
Jose said that while the tribunal ruling was clear, the "reality on the ground" was different.
"The reality is that China is there so we must discuss this," he said.
Asked if this meant Filipino fishermen should avoid the shoal for now, Jose said: "This is for the safety of everyone."
Manila's position is likely to anger critics of President Rodrigo Duterte's new government, which has been accused of taking a soft line with Beijing.
The question of who has the right to fish in the disputed South China Sea has been a major bone of contention between Beijing and Manila, which brought the case to the Permanent Court of Arbitration in The Hague.
Manila lodged the case under its previous government in 2013, saying that after 17 years of negotiations with Beijing it had exhausted all political and diplomatic avenues to settle the dispute.
Vietnam, Malaysia, Brunei and Taiwan also have claims to the sea, through which over $5 trillion in annual trade passes.
In 2012 China took control of the Scarborough Shoal, 230 kilometres (143 miles) from the main Philippine island of Luzon after a stand-off with the country's navy.
It has since driven away Filipino fishermen attempting to fish in the area, sometimes using water cannons.
Duterte has said he wants to repair relations with China that were battered during the term of his predecessor Benigno Aquino.
Duterte, who assumed the presidency on June 30, said he would send former president Fidel Ramos to Beijing as an envoy to negotiate on the issue.
"This is one of the priority issues that we must take up when we go into direct talks with China," Jose said Wednesday.
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