China flexes air muscle over strait near Japan

China flexes air muscle over strait near Japan

FPJ BureauUpdated: Thursday, May 30, 2019, 12:27 PM IST
article-image

Beijing : China has sent fighter planes for the first time over a strait near Japan, the two governments said on Monday, after Tokyo announced it may patrol alongside the US in the disputed South China Sea. More than 40 Chinese military aircraft on Sunday traversed the Miyako Strait between Japan’s Miyako and Okinawa Islands, to carry out training in the West Pacific, according to a statement on China’s defence ministry website.

The Sukhoi Su-30 fighters, bombers and refuelling aircraft did not violate Japanese airspace.

Japan’s defence ministry said it was the first time Chinese fighters had passed over the strait.

The drill is aimed at “testing far sea combat capabilities”, the Chinese statement said. It follows China’s first military flight, carried out by spy planes, over the Miyako Strait last year.

The move comes after Japanese Defence Minister Tomomi Inada said earlier this month that Tokyo would increase its engagement in the South China Sea through joint training cruises with the US Navy, exercises with regional navies and capacity-building assistance to coastal nations.

Beijing asserts sovereignty over almost all of the South China Sea, dismissing rival partial claims from its Southeast Asian neighbours. It rejects any intervention by Japan in the waterway.

In recent months Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe has criticised China for rejecting a July ruling by an international tribunal, which said Beijing’s extensive claims to the waters had no legal basis.

Tokyo, a key US ally, is also strengthening defence ties with other countries in the disputed region. Japan and China are already at loggerheads over a longstanding territorial row in the East China Sea.

That dispute relates to uninhabited islets controlled by Japan known as the Senkakus in Japanese and the Diaoyus in Chinese.

RECENT STORIES

US President Donald Trump Administration Withdraws 2,000 National Guard Troops From Los Angeles As...

US President Donald Trump Administration Withdraws 2,000 National Guard Troops From Los Angeles As...

Big Boost For Indian Army! India Set To Receive 1st Batch Of 3 Apache Helicopters From US By Next...

Big Boost For Indian Army! India Set To Receive 1st Batch Of 3 Apache Helicopters From US By Next...

US: Pentagon Ends Deployment Of 2,000 National Guard Troops In Los Angeles, Sent As Part Of...

US: Pentagon Ends Deployment Of 2,000 National Guard Troops In Los Angeles, Sent As Part Of...

'If You Live Now In Beijing, Or In Delhi': NATO Chief Mark Rutte Warns India, China & Brazil Of...

'If You Live Now In Beijing, Or In Delhi': NATO Chief Mark Rutte Warns India, China & Brazil Of...

EAM S Jaishankar's China Visit Hints At Thaw, But Challenges Persist In Bilateral Ties

EAM S Jaishankar's China Visit Hints At Thaw, But Challenges Persist In Bilateral Ties