A Chinese aircraft carrier group entered Japan’s economic waters over the weekend, before exiting to conduct drills involving fighter jets, Tokyo’s defence ministry said Monday.
The Liaoning carrier, two missile destroyers and one fast combat supply ship sailed around 300 kilometres (190 miles) southwest of Japan’s easternmost island of Minamitori on Saturday, a ministry statement said.
It was the first time a Chinese aircraft carrier had entered that part of Japan’s exclusive economic zone (EEZ), a Japanese defence ministry spokesman told AFP.
“We think the Chinese military is trying to improve its operational capability and ability to conduct operations in distant areas,” the spokesman said.
China’s growing military clout and use of naval and air assets to press disputed territorial claims have rattled the United States and its allies in the Asia-Pacific region.
Tokyo’s chief cabinet secretary Yoshimasa Hayashi told reporters on Monday that the government had “conveyed an appropriate message to the Chinese side” without saying it had lodged a formal protest.
After the Liaoning and its accompanying vessels exited Japan’s EEZ, fighter jets and helicopters conducted take-offs and landings on Sunday, the ministry statement said.
Japan deployed its warship Haguro to the area to monitor the situation, it added.
See also: Taiwan says China deployed 2 aircraft carrier groups, dozens of ships in May
Last month, the Liaoning sailed between two southern Japanese islands within the EEZ, from the East China Sea into the Pacific while conducting take-offs and landings on deck, the ministry said.
The carrier in September last year sailed between two Japanese islands near Taiwan and entered Japan’s contiguous waters, an area up to 24 nautical miles from its coast.
At the time Tokyo called the move “unacceptable” and expressed “serious concerns” to Beijing.
Under international law, a state has rights to the management of natural resources and other economic activities within its EEZ, which is within 200 nautical miles (370 kilometres) of its coastline.
Late last month, Tokyo accused Beijing of conducting unnotified maritime scientific research within its EEZ, near the remote Pacific atoll of Okinotori.
