Tokyo, Japan – Japan expressed concern Friday over China’s increased military maneuvers near its territory, prompting it to protest to Beijing and to publish detailed information about these activities for the first time.
In recent weeks, the Chinese Navy’s two aircraft carriers, the Shandong and the Liaoning, have been conducting several simultaneous exercises in the Pacific, an unprecedented move.
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“Since the end of May, the Chinese Navy’s aircraft carriers Liaoning and Shandong have repeatedly carried out a total of 1,000 takeoffs and landings of Kansai fighter jets from the two ships up until yesterday,” Japanese Defense Minister Gen Nakatani said Friday, marking the first time Tokyo has released such data.
Nakatani said one of the vessels approached east of the island of Iwo Jima, and hosted more than 100 takeoffs and landings of fighter jets in waters within Japan’s exclusive economic zone (EEZ) around Okinotori, Japan’s southernmost island, about 1,740 kilometers south of Tokyo.
“This is likely an attempt to improve the operational capabilities of China’s Liaoning and Shandong, and their ability to carry out operations in distant areas,” according to the defense minister, who added Tokyo will continue to monitor and gather information on the two aircraft carriers’ activities.
China has asserted that the activities are in accordance with international law and has accused Japan of “dangerous operations.”
Nakatani’s appearance comes days after the Self-Defense Forces released a report with these and other details of the aircraft carrier maneuvers, including a detailed map of their movements and where some of the fighter exercises took place, as well as photographs.
Days earlier, on June 12, Tokyo had expressed its concern to Beijing over a recent incident in which a missile-armed Chinese fighter jet repeatedly shadowed a Japanese Maritime Self-Defense Force (JMSDF) patrol plane while it was conducting surveillance duties on the high seas in the Pacific Ocean.
Amid these developments, and according to leaks from diplomatic sources to local media, the JMSDF destroyer Takanami sailed through the Taiwan Strait in apparent response to the incident.
Nakatani declined to confirm the veracity of this information on Friday, arguing that it is a matter for self-defense operations.
According to information reported by local news agency Kyodo, the Takanami entered the strait from the East China Sea on June 12 and spent more than 10 hours sailing south, after which it headed for waters near the Philippine island of Luzon. The entire transit was tracked and monitored by the Chinese military, according to the sources.
The Takanami conducted a joint maritime exercise with the Philippine navy last Saturday in an area of the South China Sea over which the Southeast Asian country claims jurisdiction, amid China’s escalating claims in those waters.
Japan has traditionally refrained from sending military vessels through the Taiwan Strait to avoid provoking China, but appears to have changed its stance in the face of Beijing’s growing assertiveness.
These latest developments also come at a heated geopolitical moment, with attention focused on the escalating conflict between Israel and Iran, the latter an ally of China, and a pending US decision on whether or not to join the conflict.
White House Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt said earlier that US President Donald Trump will make a decision on the matter in the next two weeks.
