In a statement published last Sunday, Japan confirmed that they sent destroyer JS Suzutsuki, a P-1 maritime patrol aircraft, and a P-3C anti-submarine warfare patrol aircraft, to track the movements and gather information after Chinese carrier group was spotted passing the waterway between Okinawa and Miyako islands towards the Pacific.
This was after China sent a carrier group past the US base Okinawa over the weekend.
South China Morning Post reported:
China’s carrier group – including the aircraft carrier Liaoning, one Renhai class stealth guided missile destroyer, two Luyang III class guided missile destroyers, one Jiangkai II multi-role frigate and one Fuyu class fast combat support ship – were spotted passing the waterway between Okinawa and Miyako Island and heading towards the Pacific on Saturday morning.
This is the first time the Liaoning is known to pass this waterway since April last year. It follows military exercises the US conducted with allies in the region, including a two-day joint drill with the Australian navy in the Eastern Pacific last week, and the US aircraft carrier Theodore Roosevelt CSG entering the South China Sea on Sunday morning after a joint-exercise with the Indian army.
Tension between the People’s Liberation Army and the Japanese Maritime Self-Defence Force in the East China Sea has escalated in recent months following Tokyo repeatedly voicing concerns over China’s new coastguard law. The law came into effect in February and allows China’s quasi-military force to use weapons against foreign ships that Beijing sees as illegally entering its waters.
China is pushing the boundaries today like never before. Obviously, they are not concerned with the Biden administration.
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