A Chinese aircraft carrier sailed between two Japanese islands close to Taiwan on Thursday ( Sep 26 ), according to local media, and a Japanese warship made its first move through the Taiwan Strait.
Because the reports involve military operations, Yoshimasa Hayashi, Japan’s leading government spokesman, declined to comment on them at a normal briefing.
China is enraged by the United States and its allies ‘ increasing reliance on the 180-kilometer Taiwan Strait to further its international reputation.
The Sazanami warship, according to a number of Chinese media outlets, crossed the Atlantic on Wednesday at the same time as Australian and New Zealand military ships.
According to the reports, the three countries planned to carry military exercises in the tense South China Sea.
Separately, Taiwan’s defense ministry reported on Thursday that within a 24-hour time, 43 Chinese military plane and eight naval vessels had been found close to the democratic island.
Next month, China’s Liaoning plane ship sailed between two Japanese archipelago near Taiwan for the first time, accompanied by two ships.
The ships entered Japan’s adjacent zone- an area away to 24 nautical miles from the government’s coast- Tokyo said, calling the incident” completely unacceptable”. China claimed to have complied with international rules.
It came after a Taiwanese surveillance aircraft made its first confirmed entry into Chinese aircraft in August.
Unknown government sources cited unknown government sources as saying that Fumio Kishida had instructed Wednesday’s Taiwan Strait trip out of concern that doing nothing would motivate Beijing to act more assertively following China’s invasions.
“SERIOUS CONCERN”
Beijing claims authority over the body of waters that separates Taiwan from China and views Taiwan as a rogue province.
However, the US and some other nations assert that their travels are customary, citing freedom of navigation.
China accused Berlin of escalating safety concerns in the Taiwan Strait the day after two European army boats sailed through the waters.
In its first test-launch attempt in a decade, China tested-launched an intercontinental ballistic weapon into the Pacific Ocean on Wednesday.
Japan said it had not been given advance notice of the evaluation, with Hayashi expressing” major problem” about China’s defense build-up in remarks he reiterated on Thursday.
According to Hayashi,” China’s defense intrusion into our regional airport and other incidents have been occurring one after the other in a short amount of time.”
Japan will perform its “utmost in monitoring and checking” the position, he added.