competitors are also enhancing their capabilities at an extremely fast pace. it would be very difficult to maintain our deterrence and response capabilities unless we further increase our military capacity. back on nonigune the russian invasion of ukraine is spark fears that china could be ohm bold toend act off japan s shores. reporter: the people are terrified of the situation that s happening. i think that the senkaku issue and the taiwan contingency are similar to the ukrainian issue. i have a strong sense of crisis, that this island will eventually cease to be japan. reporter: but in the face of geopolitical concerns well out of his control kinjo and his crew do what they know. they prepare for another day at sea. blake essig, cnn, yonogune, japan. the white house s new covid coordinator says there s still work to do on controlling the covid virus. is covid still a crisis?
translator: the people are terrified of the situation happening. i think that the senkaku issue and the taiwan contingency are similar to the ukrainian issue. i have a strong sense of crisis, that this island will eventually cease to be japan. reporter: but in the face of geopolitical concerns well out of his control kinjo and his crew do what they know. they prepare for another day at sea. blake essig, cnn, yonogune, japan. south korea and the u.s. will conduct military exercises for the next nine days. seoul s joint chiefs of staff announced the plan on sunday. the defense command post training will use computer simulation without actual military forces training in person. the joint chiefs said the decision to go virtual was based on conditions such as covid-19 and maintenance of the combined defense posture. still to come here on the program, a plea for peace during an easter of war.
that s happening. i think that the senkaku issue and the taiwan contingency are similar to the ukrainian issue. i have a strong sense of crisis, that this island will eventually cease to be japan. reporter: but in the face of geopolitical concerns well out of his control kinjo and his crew do what they know. they prepare. for another day at sea. conflict here in yonaguni isn t necessarily imminent, but china s constant presence off the coast and the possibility of war has many people living here worried, wondering about their future. blake essig, cnn, yonaguni, japan. and thanks for watching. i ll be back next hour. cnn s breaking news coverage continues with john vause joining us live from lviv in ukraine. do stay with us.
reporter: for the past 25 years kin joe has made a living fishing the waters around japanese islands. known as the senkakus in japan and the diayu in china. when he started kinjo says he never saw chinese ships but in the last few years translator: you can see it in the video. the bow of one of their ships was pointed straight at us and they were chasing us. reporter: dangerous encounters specifically around the contested senkaku islands that kinjo says are guaranteed. translator: i don t know for sure but i also saw what looked like cannons. looking back, they definitely could have shot at us if they d wanted to. i felt that fear. reporter: in response to cnn china s ministry of foreign affairs says it s carrying out law enforcement duties in its territory. but it s not just the chinese coast guard trolling these contested waters. japanese and senior u.s. defense officials say chinese warships are routinely patrolling japanese territorial waters and