Led by People’s Liberation Army (PLA) Navy’s aircraft carrier Liaoning, eight Chinese warships passed between southern Japan’s Okinawa island chain on Monday in a passage that state media described as “preparation for missions that include a potential military conflict across the Taiwan Straits”.
The warships sailed between the main Okinawa island and Miyakojima, the Japanese defence ministry and Chinese state media reports said, adding while there was no incursion into Japan’s territorial waters, helicopters on board the Liaoning carrier took off and landed.
In Chinese naval doctrine, these islands are part of the “first island chain” and sailing past these means a projection of power by the Chinese navy.
The Japan Maritime Self-Defence Force dispatched the Izumo, a helicopter carrier, as well as P-1 maritime patrol aircraft and P-3C anti-submarine aircraft to monitor the passage of the Chinese vessels, Japan’s defence ministry said in the press release.The US 7th Fleet, which is stationed in Japan, is also expected to monitor the passage of the Chinese warships.Consisting of at least eight warships, including destroyers, the aircraft carrier group is the largest to head out to far sea , “marking a significant combat capability boost in preparation for missions that include a potential military conflict across the Taiwan Straits”, the state-run Global Times said, quoting experts.
