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On December 18, 2018, Prime Minister Shinzo Abe held a meeting of the Ministerial Council on the Strengthening of the Maritime Security System at the Prime Minister’s Office.
 
At the meeting, a discussion was held on the status of the initiatives for strengthening the coast guard system.
 
Based on the discussion, the Prime Minister said,
 
“We have been enhancing and strengthening Japan’s coast guard system since the year before last, in response to the increasingly severe situation in the waters surrounding Japan.
 
Even now, in the waters around the Senkaku Islands, foreign government vessels still repeatedly intrude into territorial waters. In the Sea of Japan, there has been a succession of infringements of fisheries sovereignty by foreign fishing vessels, as well as of the drifting ashore of wooden boats, which are suspected to be from North Korea.
 
The Government must steadily strengthen the coast guard system to enable the members of the Japan Coast Guard, who continue to protect the seas of Japan in this severe environment, to fulfill their noble mission with high morale.
 
Therefore, as part of the initial budget for FY2019 and while also using the FY2018 supplementary budget, we will advance efforts to secure large-scale patrol vessels for the patrol of territorial waters around the Senkaku Islands, new jets for maritime surveillance, medium-scale aircraft for maritime surveys, and the necessary personnel and operating funds for conducting such work, as well as efforts to expand and enhance education and training facilities.
 
At the same time, it is important to establish an international maritime order through partnerships with other countries in order to realize a free and open Indo-Pacific. Last month, in Australia, we held the exchange of notes ceremony on cooperation between Japanese and Australian Coast Guard authorities. Taking that opportunity, I encouraged the crewmembers of the patrol vessel Echigo, which conducts patrols in the Sulu and Celebes Seas where piracy incidents occur frequently. 
 
The duties of the Japan Coast Guard are becoming ever more diverse, as symbolized by the efforts such as the crackdown of foreign fishing vessels and sea rescues domestically, and the patrol vessel Echigo engaging in strengthening international partnerships overseas.
 
We will protect our peaceful and bountiful seas. To this end, I would like to ask the relevant ministries and agencies to continue to pool their efforts to strengthen the coast guard system, and in cooperation with other countries, fulfill wide-ranging duties and exert every effort to ensure maritime security.”