REUTERS
September 20, 2024 at 07:10 JST
China's Liaoning aircraft carrier (Provided by Defense Ministry)
BEIJING--China said on Thursday its Liaoning aircraft carrier had been on a routine training mission in the western Pacific and dismissed charges by Tokyo that the vessel and its escorts had entered Japanese waters.
In the latest incident in a drawn-out dispute between Beijing and Tokyo over maritime activities, Japan's Defense Ministry said on Wednesday the carrier and two accompanying destroyers had sailed between Japan's southern Yonaguni and Iriomote islands in waters where Japan can exert control.
China's defense ministry responded on Thursday by saying the vessels were on a training exercise that was in line with relevant international laws. It did not give an exact location for the flotilla.
"There is no need for relevant parties to over-interpret it," the defense ministry said in a statement.
Japan's Deputy Chief Cabinet Secretary Hiroshi Moriya said on Wednesday that Tokyo had conveyed its serious concerns to Beijing, describing the incident as "utterly unacceptable."
Japan would continue to closely monitor Chinese naval vessels' activities in the surrounding waters, Moriya said.
An increase in Chinese military activity near Japan and around the island of Taiwan in recent years has worried Tokyo. Japan has responded with a defense buildup it says aims to deter China from using military force to push its territorial claims in the region.
Last month, Japan lodged a protest with Beijing after a Chinese navy survey vessel entered Japanese waters. It also accused a Chinese spyplane of breaching its airspace.
Japan says Chinese carrier entered its contiguous waters for first time
September 18, 2024
MSDF destroyer enters Chinese waters near Taiwan, prompting Beijing complaint
July 12, 2024
Japan navy destroyer enters China waters near Taiwan, sparking Beijing concerns, says Japanese media
July 11, 2024
Japan repeatedly spots Chinese coast guard and warships near disputed waters
February 9, 2024
Taiwan monitors surge in Chinese military activity as Beijing’s carrier exercises in Pacific
July 11, 2024
A peek through the music industry’s curtain at the producers who harnessed social media to help their idols go global.
A series based on diplomatic documents declassified by Japan’s Foreign Ministry
Here is a collection of first-hand accounts by “hibakusha” atomic bomb survivors.
Cooking experts, chefs and others involved in the field of food introduce their special recipes intertwined with their paths in life.
A series about Japanese-Americans and their memories of World War II
