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New Straits Times
6 hours ago
- Politics
- New Straits Times
Chinese jets fly as close as 45 metres to Japanese patrol planes in Pacific
TOKYO/BEIJING: Chinese fighter jets flew unusually close to Japanese military patrol planes over the Pacific last weekend, Tokyo said, after it spotted two Chinese aircraft carriers simultaneously deployed in the waters for the first time. While Beijing said its military activities were "fully in line with international law" and asked Japan to stop its "dangerous" reconnaissance, Japanese and US officials have seen the jets' actions as another sign of the Chinese military's growing assertiveness beyond its borders. Tokyo has "expressed serious concern ... and solemnly requested prevention of recurrence" to Beijing, Chief Cabinet Secretary Yoshimasa Hayashi said on Thursday, referring to the June 7–8 incidents in which Japan said Chinese jets flew as close as 45 metres (148 feet) to Japanese planes. On Saturday, a Chinese J-15 jet from the aircraft carrier Shandong chased a Japanese P-3C patrol aircraft for about 40 minutes, Japan's defence ministry said. On Sunday, a J-15 chased a P-3C for 80 minutes, crossing in front of the Japanese aircraft at a distance of only 900 metres, it added. A spokesperson at the ministry's Joint Staff Office declined to disclose whether the same planes were involved in the incidents on both days. The P-3C aircraft, belonging to a Japan Maritime Self-Defence Force fleet based on the island of Okinawa, were conducting surveillance over international waters in the Pacific, according to the ministry. "Such abnormal approaches by Chinese military aircraft could potentially cause accidental collisions," the ministry said in a Wednesday statement, attaching close-up images of the missile-armed J-15 jet it took on Sunday. There was no damage to the Japanese planes and crew, it added. In response, China's foreign ministry spokesperson Lin Jian told a regular press conference that "the close-in reconnaissance by Japanese ships and planes of China's normal military activities is the root cause of the risk to maritime and air security. "The Chinese side urges the Japanese side to stop such dangerous behaviour." Earlier this week, Tokyo said the Shandong and another Chinese carrier, the Liaoning, were conducting simultaneous operations in the Pacific for the first time. Beijing has said the operations were a "routine training" exercise that did not target specific countries. The Chinese presence in the sea and airspace in the southeast of the Japanese island chain has put Tokyo and its ally Washington on heightened alert, as Japan pursues its biggest military build-up since World War Two in the wake of the intensifying security environment in East Asia, including over Taiwan. "Our sense of urgency is growing," General Yoshihide Yoshida, Chief of Staff of Japan's Joint Staff, told a briefing. "As evident in the South China Sea, the Chinese military has unilaterally changed the status quo through force wherever their military influence extends ... we will maintain a deterrent posture not to allow these actions normalised," added Yoshida, Japan's highest-ranking uniformed officer. "The recent dangerous manoeuvre by a Chinese fighter jet that put Japanese crewmembers' lives in peril must be another of Beijing's 'good neighbour' efforts," US Ambassador to Japan George Glass said in an X post. "Whether it's harassing Philippine ships, attacking Vietnamese fishermen, or firing flares at Australian aircraft, Beijing knows only reckless aggression," Glass added, citing recent incidents in the South China Sea. In 2014, Tokyo said it spotted Chinese military aircraft flying as close as 30 metres to its military aircraft over the East China Sea and protested to Beijing.
The Star
11 hours ago
- Politics
- The Star
Chinese fighters flew close to Japanese patrol planes, Tokyo expresses concern
TOKYO: Chinese fighter jets flew unusually close to Japanese military patrol planes over the weekend, Tokyo said, after two Chinese aircraft carriers were spotted operating simultaneously in the Pacific for the first time. "We have expressed serious concern to the Chinese side and solemnly requested prevention of recurrence," Chief Cabinet Secretary Yoshimasa Hayashi (pic) said on Thursday (June 12), referring to the June 7-8 incidents in which Tokyo said Chinese jets flew as close as 45m to Japanese planes. On Saturday, a Chinese J-15 jet from the aircraft carrier Shandong chased a Japanese P-3C patrol aircraft for about 40 minutes, according to Japan's defence ministry. On Sunday, a J-15 chased a P-3C for 80 minutes, crossing in front of the Japanese aircraft at a distance of only 900m, it said. A spokesperson at the ministry's Joint Staff Office declined to disclose whether the same planes were involved in the incidents on both days. The P-3C aircraft, belonging to Japan's Maritime Self-Defense Force based in the island of Okinawa, were conducting surveillance over international waters in the Pacific, according to the ministry. "Such abnormal approaches by Chinese military aircraft could potentially cause accidental collisions," the ministry said in a statement on Wednesday, attaching close-up images of the J-15 jet it took on Sunday. There was no damage to the Japanese planes and crew, it added. Hayashi, the top Japanese government spokesperson, told a regular briefing that Tokyo will maintain communications with Beijing at various levels and ensure the monitoring of airspace around its territories. Earlier this week, Tokyo said the Shandong and another Chinese carrier the Liaoning were conducting simultaneous operations in the Pacific for the first time, describing it as a move signifying Beijing's intention to further widen its capabilities beyond its borders. Beijing has said the operations were a "routine training" exercise that did not target specific countries. In 2014, Tokyo said it spotted Chinese military aircraft flying as close as 30m to its military aircraft over the East China Sea and protested to Beijing. - Reuters
Asahi Shimbun
a day ago
- Politics
- Asahi Shimbun
Chinese carriers in Pacific show country's ‘expansionist' aims, Taiwan says
A jet fighter takes off from China's Shandong aircraft carrier, over Pacific Ocean waters, south of Okinawa Prefecture, in this handout released by the Joint Staff Office of the Defense Ministry of Japan April 10, 2023. (Joint Staff Office of the Defense Ministry of Japan/ via REUTERS) TAIPEI--The two Chinese aircraft carriers spotted conducting simultaneous operations in the Pacific for the first time send a political message about the country's 'expansionist' aims, Taiwan Defense Minister Wellington Koo said on Wednesday. Japan's defense minister said the previous day that the appearance of the Chinese aircraft carriers signified Beijing's intention to further widen its capabilities beyond its borders. Koo said the armed forces had a 'full grasp' of the carriers' movements. 'Crossing from the first island chain into the second island chain sends a definite political message and their expansionist nature can be seen,' he told reporters in Taipei. The first island chain refers to an area that runs from Japan down to Taiwan, the Philippines and Borneo, while the second island chain spreads further out into the Pacific to include places like the U.S. territory of Guam. China's navy, which has been honing its abilities to operate further and further from the country's coast, said on Tuesday the carrier operations were a 'routine training' exercise that did not target specific countries or regions. Taiwan, which China views as its own territory, keeps a close watch on Chinese military movements given the regular drills and war games Beijing stages around the island. Since May, China has been flexing its muscles by sending an unusually large number of naval and coast guard vessels through a swathe of East Asian waters, according to security documents and officials, in moves that have unnerved regional capitals. Japan's defense ministry confirmed the two carriers, Liaoning and Shandong, were operating in separate areas in the Pacific on Saturday, both near remote southern islands belonging to Japan. Earlier, Japan said the Liaoning sailed within its exclusive economic zone (EEZ) near Minamitorishima, a remote island east of Iwo Jima.
Epoch Times
2 days ago
- Business
- Epoch Times
Japan Says China Sent 2 Aircraft Carriers in Pacific for First Time
Japan has confirmed that two Chinese aircraft carriers are simultaneously carrying out operations in the Pacific for the first time, a move that Tokyo interprets as an indication of Beijing's plans to further extend its military reach beyond its borders. Shandong, China's domestically built aircraft carrier, and four naval vessels sailed into the waters southwest of Japan's Miyakojima island on June 7, Tokyo's Joint Staff Office said in a June 9
Bloomberg
2 days ago
- Business
- Bloomberg
China Sends Two Aircraft Carriers Into Pacific Ocean in a First
Japan said it observed two Chinese aircraft carriers and supporting warships operating simultaneously near remote Japanese islands in the Pacific Ocean for the first time, a new demonstration of Beijing's advancing naval capabilities. The aircraft carrier Shandong was seen sailing into the Pacific at the weekend and identified on Monday conducting fighter jet and helicopter take-off and landing training, according to Japan's Joint Staff Office. That was occurring inside the exclusive economic zone around the Japanese atoll of Okinotori, around 1,740 km south of Tokyo, the office said.
