Chinese navy sails between Japanese islands near Taiwan

TOKYO/TAIPEI - A Chinese aircraft carrier sailed between two Japanese islands near Taiwan for the first time, Japan’s military said on Sept 18, in the latest move by Beijing to rile the close US ally.

The Japanese government said it was the first time that a Chinese aircraft carrier, which was accompanied by two destroyers, entered its contiguous zone, an area within 24 nautical miles of the country’s coast.

“This incident is totally unacceptable from the perspective of the security environment of Japan and the region, and we have expressed our serious concerns to the Chinese side through diplomatic channels,” Japanese government spokesman Hiroshi Moriya said.

China said the passage, which came less than a month after the first confirmed incursion into Japanese airspace by a Chinese surveillance aircraft, complied with international law.

The Liaoning carrier and two Luyang III-class missile destroyers were seen sailing southwards between the islands of Yonaguni and Iriomote on Sept 17 and 18, according to the Japanese Defence Ministry’s joint staff.

Yonaguni and Iriomote are near the uninhabited and disputed Senkaku islands in the East China Sea, known by Beijing as the Diaoyus, which have long been a source of friction between the two countries.

Taipei’s government said earlier a Chinese naval formation, led by the Liaoning, sailed through waters north-east of self-ruled Taiwan on Sept 18 and continued towards Yonaguni.

China’s growing economic and military clout in the Asia-Pacific region and its assertiveness in territorial disputes – most recently with the Philippines – have rattled the US and its allies.

Tokyo has reported the presence of Chinese coast guard vessels, a naval ship and a nuclear-powered submarine around the remote chain of islets.

In August, Japan scrambled fighter jets after the first confirmed incursion by a Chinese military aircraft into its airspace, with Tokyo

calling it a “serious violation” of its sovereignty.

Tokyo is ramping up its defence spending with US encouragement, moving to acquire counter-strike capabilities and easing rules on arms exports. Japan is also providing funding and equipment, such as patrol vessels, to other countries in the region.

In July, Tokyo

agreed on a deal with the Philippine government

allowing troop deployments on each other’s soil.

Tokyo last week also

scrambled fighter jets after Russian aircraft flew around the archipelago

for the first time in five years.

The Japanese government said the Tu-142 planes did not enter Japan’s airspace but flew over an area subject to a territorial dispute between Japan and Russia.

In September, Russian and Chinese warships held joint drills in the Sea of Japan, part of a major naval exercise that President Vladimir Putin said was the largest of its kind for three decades.

The Japanese Defence Ministry said it had observed five Chinese naval ships entering the Sea of Japan, likely on their way to the joint manoeuvres. AFP