Japan confirms China’s aircraft carrier sailed east of Iwo Jima for first time
Sign up now: Get ST's newsletters delivered to your inbox
China's aircraft carrier Liaoning departs Hong Kong, China, July 11, 2017.
PHOTO: REUTERS
Follow topic:
TOKYO - The Chinese aircraft carrier Liaoning sailed through waters east of the island of Iwo Jima in the Pacific Ocean for the first time, Japan's top government spokesperson said on June 9.
Japan would strengthen surveillance and gather necessary information, Chief Cabinet Secretary Yoshimasa Hayashi told a regular press briefing in Tokyo. Japan has also sent “an appropriate message” to China, Mr Hayashi said without elaborating.
Iwo Jima is located 1,000 km south of Tokyo.
A statement by Japan’s Joint Staff over the weekend said that the Liaoning, accompanied by some other ships, sailed in the sea within Japan’s exclusive economic zone near Minamitorishima, a remote island east of Iwo Jima.
Japan also confirmed fighter jets and helicopters taking off and landing from Liaoning in the waters south-east of Iwo Jima on June 8.
China’s foreign ministry on June 9 defended the aircraft carrier’s voyage as “fully in line with international law and practice”.
Ministry spokesperson Lin Jian told a regular press briefing that China had “always pursued a defensive national defence policy” and urged Japan to look at the issue “objectively and rationally”. REUTERS
