China Flexes Muscle With Reckless Fighter Jet Moves;Sending 2 Aircraft Carriers Into Pacific Also Symbolic
China's Shandong aircraft carrier
The recent dangerous maneuvers conducted by at least one Chinese fighter jet close to at least one Maritime Self-Defense Force aircraft and the expanding reach of Beijing's aircraft carriers are China's latest flexes of its growing military might.
A Chinese fighter jet that took off from the Shandong aircraft carrier sailing in the Pacific Ocean flew at a distance of about 45 meters of a Japanese MSDF P-3C patrol plane that was monitoring the vessel on June 7, and a similar incident occurred on Sunday, the Defense Ministry said Wednesday. In Sunday's incident, the Chinese jet also cut across in front of the P-3C.
'A Self-Defense Forces pilot wouldn't conduct those maneuvers,' a senior ministry official said about the unusual actions of the Chinese aircraft.
The ministry said a Chinese J-15 fighter that took off from the Shandong followed a P-3C over international waters south of Miyakojima Island in Okinawa Prefecture for about 40 minutes in the Saturday incident and for about 80 minutes in the incident on June 7. In each case, the P-3C was maintaining a safe distance while monitoring the Shandong, but a J-15 approached the aircraft before moving away again. The J-15 flew at a distance of about 45 meters horizontally of the MSDF aircraft on both days.
Photographs released by the ministry showed the pilot in the cockpit of the J-15 that flew on the P-3C's left side was wearing a blue helmet.
The Yomiuri Shimbun
'If either pilot makes a mistake at that distance, it could lead to a collision,' another senior ministry official said.
On Sunday, the J-15 flying at about the same altitude as the P-3C suddenly cut across the MSDF aircraft's path about 900 meters ahead of it. This posed a risk of the P-3C's engines stopping if turbulent airflow from the fighter jet's exhaust entered them.
This was the first time for the ministry to publicly announce that a Chinese fighter had carried out such maneuvers. The J-15 appeared to be carrying at least one missile.
The intention behind the dangerous Chinese midair maneuvers appears to have been to disrupt the P-3C's monitoring of the aircraft carrier. Although the SDF aircraft were not damaged, the Japanese government lodged protests through diplomatic channels on Tuesday, Wednesday and Thursday.
Heightened sense of alarm
China is improving its aircraft carriers' operational capabilities while expanding their activities in the Pacific Ocean as part of its strategy aimed at preventing U.S. military intervention in the event of a conflict in Taiwan or the South China Sea. The United States calls this strategy anti-access/area denial (A2/AD).
Involving aircraft carriers, submarines, missiles and other weapons, A2/AD seeks to impede U.S. military movements between the 'second island chain,' which runs from Japan's Izu Islands to Guam, where U.S. bases are located, and the 'first island chain,' which stretches from Japan's Nansei Islands to the Philippines. The strategy also seeks to deny access within the first island chain, which is closer to China.
China's first aircraft carrier, the Liaoning, was commissioned in 2012, and the Shandong became the second flattop to enter service in 2019. In early June, the Liaoning became the first Chinese carrier confirmed to have conducted activities in waters east of the second island chain. According to Japanese government sources, the Liaoning and the Shandong were both operating in the Pacific Ocean as of Thursday. This was the first time these carriers had been operating simultaneously in the Pacific.
According to Defense Ministry materials, the Shandong has a full displacement of 66,000 tons and can carry 36 fighter jets and other equipment.
Yoshihide Yoshida, chief of staff of the Joint Staff, expressed concern over these recent developments and insisted Japan would continue to closely monitor the situation. 'China's military activities are being stepped up at an extremely fast pace,' Yoshida, the SDF's top uniformed officer, said at a regular press conference Thursday.
However, the sea and airspace areas that need to be monitored in the Pacific are vast, and the government will need to consider options such as deploying mobile radar units to remote island areas.
Multilateral cooperation needed
Yasuhiro Kawakami, a senior research fellow at the Sasakawa Peace Foundation and a former rear admiral in the MSDF, suggested China's recent naval activities had two main objectives.
'As well as getting a grasp on Japan's ability to respond to such situations, these operations were aimed at showing Japan and the United States that China has the capability to expand its influence in the Pacific,' Kawakami said.
Sending the Liaoning past the second island chain for the first time also appears to have been China flaunting its ability to carry out operations in distant locations.
Kawakami said Japan should continue its own monitoring and surveillance activities, but also work with other nations on this issue.
'Japan should bolster cooperation with United States and also like-minded nations in the Indo-Pacific region such as the Philippines and Australia,' Kawakami said. 'The nation should promote the sharing of accumulated information and strengthen its deterrence posture.'
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