A Chinese naval drill near Japan has sparked concern from Tokyo, which in recent days lodged a protest with Beijing and made the rare decision to publicly disclose Chinese military movements.
In the last few weeks China’s two aircraft carriers, the Shandong and the Liaoning, have been conducting simultaneous drills in the Pacific, in an unprecedented move.
Chinese fighter jets have done hundreds of landings and take-offs from the carriers. A few came close to Japanese surveillance planes, prompting Tokyo to convey its “serious concerns” to Beijing.
China has said its activities are consistent with international law and accused Japan of conducting “dangerous moves”.
On Tuesday, the Japanese defence ministry released a map tracing the Chinese aircraft carriers’ daily positions since 25 May. Japan does not usually disclose details of foreign militaries’ movements.
It shows both carriers coming close to Japanese islands, and at times sailing through Japan’s exclusive economic zone.
The exclusive economic zone is an area beyond a country’s territorial waters where that country has exclusive rights to explore and exploit marine resources, but other countries are allowed freedom of navigation through it.
The map also shows the Liaoning sailing past the “second island chain”, a line of defence outlined in US foreign policy doctrine that connects Japan to Guam. This makes it the first Chinese aircraft carrier to do so , according to Japanese news outlets.
Japan’s defence ministry also said they had observed more than 500 landings and take-offs of Chinese fighter jets and helicopters during the drills.
On 7 June, a Chinese fighter jet took off from the Shandong and followed a Japanese surveillance aircraft for about 40 minutes, according to Tokyo. The next day, a Chinese fighter jet flew close to a Japanese plane for twice that duration, and crossed in front of it.
Japan’s chief cabinet secretary Yoshimasa Hayashi said last week that they relayed to Beijing their concern about these “abnormal approaches” which could have caused accidental collisions.
Chinese foreign ministry spokesman Lin Jian said that their “activities in relevant waters and air space are consistent with international law and international practices”, and that the two countries were communicating through existing channels.
“Let me point out that it is the close-in reconnaissance of Japan’s vessels and airplanes on China’s normal military activities that has caused maritime and air security risks. China urges Japan to stop those dangerous moves,” he said.
