Japan keeps tabs on 4 Chinese navy ships near Okinawa after military stand-off
China’s ‘capabilities in long-range, unmanned combat operations mean we can neutralise any threat with precision’, commentator tells CCTV
The PLA Navy aircraft carrier and three guided missile destroyers were sailing northeast between Okinawa and Minami-Daito islands, and in waters around 190km (118 miles) east of Kikai Island, Japan’s defence ministry said on Sunday night.
Around 50 take-offs and landings by carrier-based fighter jets and helicopters were observed on both Saturday and Sunday, the ministry said. It said Japan had scrambled its fighter jets in response.
Earlier, Japan claimed that Chinese naval fighters intermittently beamed fire-control radars – a tactical precursor to missile engagement – on its F-15 jets in two separate instances on Saturday. Japanese Defence Minister Shinjiro Koizumi on Sunday labelled the action a “dangerous act” beyond the scope of safe flight operations and said Tokyo had formally protested to Beijing.
China has dismissed the claim as “hype” and “inconsistent with the facts”. A spokesman for the PLA Navy said on Sunday that China had only been conducting “regular flight training in a designated sea and airspace” that had been previously announced, and that Japanese forces had interfered with normal People’s Liberation Army training and posed a threat to flight safety.
The stand-off, which took place northeast of Taiwan near the Miyako Strait, comes amid an escalating diplomatic row between Beijing and Tokyo over the Japanese prime minister’s comments on Taiwan a month ago.
Chinese state media outlets have in recent days criticised Japan’s intentions in the region and dismissed its military capabilities.
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