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| Japan Sends Fighters And Warships To Monitor China's Aircraft Carrier Training Operations |
Tokyo - Japan said it sent fighter jets and dispatched planes and warships over the past two weeks to oversee the Chinese aircraft carrier Liaoning and five warships conducting naval maneuvers and aviation operations in the Pacific.
"Japan is monitoring operations after the Chinese Navy group, including a missile destroyer, sailed between the main island of Okinawa and the island of Miyakojima into the West Pacific from the East China Sea on December 16," Japan's Defense Ministry said in a press release, as quoted by Reuters.
Before returning the same way on Sunday, the Chinese aircraft carrier made more than 300 takeoffs and landings of fixed-wing aircraft and helicopters, added the ministry, which did not report any incursions into Japanese territorial waters or skies. China has carried out similar operations in the past, including one in May.
The latest large-scale military drills near the Japanese islands come after Japan announced it would double defense spending over the next five years. The move was taken by Japan in an effort to prevent China from using its military to push territorial claims in the region, including against neighboring Taiwan.
So far, China has often used its military force to put pressure on Taiwan. Japan also reported that it had detected flights by a Chinese WZ-7 drone on Sunday near Miyakojima, the first time they had seen a high-altitude drone in the area.