According to media reports, Chinese drones have been deployed near Japan this week, prompting Japanese defense officials to dispatch planes and naval vessels to monitor the situation.
The unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs) have crossed the Miyako Strait from the East China Sea to the Pacific Ocean and returned the same way, USNI News reported. The Miyako Strait is a waterway between Miyako Island and Okinawa.
Meanwhile, Chinese warships have also been sighted near the Philippines in the East China Sea after two weeks.
According to the news agency, the Chinese People’s Liberation Army’s Liaoning Carrier Strike Group (CSG) was probably heading home after a short patrol.
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The Chinese aircraft carrier Liaoning sails through the Miyako Strait near Okinawa on its way to the Pacific Ocean in this handout photo taken by the Japan Self-Defense Forces in 2021. China has been operating near Japan in recent weeks, worrying Japanese defense officials. (Portal via the Joint Staff Office of the Japanese Defense Ministry)
On Monday, Japan said it had dispatched warplanes and planes and warships to keep an eye on China’s aircraft carrier Liaoning over the past two weeks, Portal reported.
Japan was monitoring operations after the Chinese naval group, which included missile destroyers, sailed from the East China Sea between the main island of Okinawa and Miyakojima island in the western Pacific on Dec. 16, Japan’s defense ministry said in a release.
Tensions between China and Japan have escalated as Beijing expanded its military exercises and interests further into the Pacific.
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“From my perspective, the US and China are at war,” Yoko Ishii, a Japanese political commentator, told Fox News in November. “America fought terrorism, but now America has switched politics to fighting China.”
Ishii said China has ambitions beyond taking Taiwan as it has “invaded” territory around Japan’s Senkaku Islands.
“They come into the waters around our territories as they do every day and do so to make it appear that they own the place,” Ishii said. “China is gradually approaching the Pacific Ocean.”
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Japanese Prime Minister Fumio Kishida has accused China of violating its sovereignty as eastern powers become increasingly aggressive. Chinese fishing and naval vessels have frequently ventured into Japanese waters in recent months.