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Yomiuri Shimbun
4 days ago
- Politics
- Yomiuri Shimbun
Chinese Navy Aircraft Conducted Exercises to Intercept U.S. Carrier
Two Chinese Navy aircraft carriers deployed to the Pacific Ocean around Japan and other areas in June had been conducting drills to intercept a U.S. carrier strike group, it has been learned. Several Japanese government officials revealed this information. Chinese military forces apparently divided themselves into U.S. and Chinese military roles during the drills to mimic the navigational methods employed by U.S. aircraft carriers. The Japanese government has analyzed that the Chinese military is enhancing its capacity to prevent U.S. military intervention in the event of a conflict in Taiwan. According to the Defense Ministry's Joint Staff Office, the Chinese aircraft carriers Liaoning and Shandong have been deployed simultaneously in the Pacific Ocean around Japan since late May. From May 25 to June 19, fighter jets and helicopters aboard the Liaoning and Shandong made a total of 1,050 landings and takeoffs while the two naval vessels were sailing in the waters near islands including Okinawa, Okinotorishima and Minami-Torishima. Drills simulating carrier interceptions were conducted for about a week starting around June 7. The Liaoning departed westward from within Japan's exclusive economic zone (EEZ) off Minami-Torishima Island around June 7. Over the course of several days, it crossed the so-called second island chain —China's defense line connecting the Ogasawara Islands to Guam, where U.S. military bases are located — and then proceeded toward China. Meanwhile, the Shandong moved eastward from the south of Okinawa Island to intercept the Liaoning. Analysts concluded that the Liaoning was acting as a U.S. aircraft carrier. It is believed that U.S. aircraft carriers have a rule to maintain a certain distance from Chinese aircraft carriers to prevent skirmishes. According to a source close to the matter, the Liaoning moved to maintain a distance of about 500 nautical miles (about 930 kilometers) when approaching the Shandong. It is highly likely that the Chinese military was acting in accordance with U.S. regulations and imitating the movements of a U.S. aircraft carrier before entering a state of war. At the end of June, China's national defense ministry announced that the Liaoning and Shandong had conducted drills in the western Pacific Ocean, training to engage with each other in realistic countermeasures. The statement is consistent with the Japanese government's analysis. On June 7 and 8, a Chinese vessel-based fighter jet abnormally approached a Maritime Self-Defense Force P-3C patrol aircraft while it was monitoring a Chinese aircraft carrier. This was likely an attempt to pressure the Japanese side to abandon surveillance and prevent them from obtaining information about the drills. The Chinese military is developing the so-called A2/AD (Anti-Access/Area Denial) strategy to prevent U.S. military operations inside the second island chain and prevent U.S. forces from entering the so-called first island chain, connecting the Nansei Islands and the Philippines. A Self-Defense Forces personnel noted that the deployment of the two Chinese aircraft carriers may have been part of a move to materialize this strategy.
Newsweek
07-07-2025
- Politics
- Newsweek
US Ally Gives Military Shootdown Authorization Against Chinese Drones
Based on facts, either observed and verified firsthand by the reporter, or reported and verified from knowledgeable sources. Newsweek AI is in beta. Translations may contain inaccuracies—please refer to the original content. The Japanese government has authorized its military to use force to bring down unmanned aerial aircraft that enter the country's airspace, a policy change with implications for the Japan Self-Defense Forces' responses to the uptick in Chinese drone activity around its territory. In late June, the Cabinet of Prime Minister Shigeru Ishiba authorized the shootdown, permitted even in the absence of an immediate threat to life, according to Japan's Sankei Shimbun newspaper. Newsweek has contacted the Japanese prime minister's office and the Chinese Defense Ministry for comment via email. Why It Matters Japan, a key U.S. treaty ally, is evolving its security policies to reflect the changing landscape of modern warfare, in particular the increasingly sophisticated uncrewed platforms developed by neighboring China. While the approach is unlikely to affect the defense of Japan's main islands, it leaves open the possibility of an armed clash around the disputed Senkaku or Diaoyu islands in the East China Sea, which Tokyo controls and Beijing claims. A photograph released by Japan's Joint Staff Office on April 24 shows a Chinese military TB-001 unmanned combat aerial vehicle operating in international airspace near Japan's southwestern islands. A photograph released by Japan's Joint Staff Office on April 24 shows a Chinese military TB-001 unmanned combat aerial vehicle operating in international airspace near Japan's southwestern islands. Japan Joint Staff Office What To Know Under a previous legal framework, Japan's air force pilots were permitted to take "necessary measures" against unmanned aircraft entering Japanese airspace but were not allowed to fire upon drones that did not pose a direct threat to human life. An expanded interpretation of the policy was first announced in February 2023 but only formally adopted by Ishiba's Cabinet last month, the Sankei Shimbun reported. Jin Matsubara, an independent lawmaker representing a district in Tokyo, received confirmation of the policy shift in response to a written inquiry to the government. In the fiscal year 2024, which concluded at the end of March, Japan's air force jets were scrambled 704 times to intercept Chinese and Russian aircraft approaching its airspace, according to a Japanese Defense Ministry report. Last year, 30 Chinese unmanned aerial vehicles were detected operating in Japan's air defense identification zone, or ADIZ, data showed. An ADIZ is a buffer zone that extends beyond sovereign airspace, used to identify nearby civilian and military aircraft. Japan's air force has intercepted 11 Chinese drones since the fiscal year 2025 began in April, according to reports released by the Joint Staff Office of Japan's Defense Ministry. All the activity was detected around Japan's southwestern islands and matched movements reported in Taiwan's air defense zone by the island's Defense Ministry. Photos published by the Joint Staff Office showed at least three Chinese drone types: the BZK-005, TB-001 and Wing Loong 2 reconnaissance platforms. Last August, Japan said a crewed Chinese intelligence-gathering plane had violated the airspace above an islet near its southernmost main island of Kyushu. China's Foreign Ministry at the time said the intrusion was unintentional but did not apologize publicly. Elsewhere in the East China Sea, however, both sides have accused the other of breaching claimed sovereign airspace above the Senkaku island group, which is covered under the U.S.-Japan security treaty. Additionally, Tokyo and Beijing have recently feuded over Chinese gas exploration activities in shared waters. What People Are Saying Jin Matsubara, a Japanese lawmaker, wrote on X, formerly Twitter, on June 30: "With the rapid changes in security, particularly in military matters, we must constantly update our efforts." Guo Jiakun, a spokesperson for the Chinese Foreign Ministry, said on June 25: "China upholds and remains committed to the comprehensive and effective implementation of the principled consensus on the East China Sea issue. We hope Japan will work in the same direction with China and make an effort to resume the intergovernmental negotiation between the two countries at an early date." What Happens Next Japan's military is developing ground-based anti-drone technology that includes direct energy weapons, or lasers. In the air, its air force jets must rely on missiles and guns to engage drones that breach its sovereign airspace. To date, none of the Chinese drones detected near Japanese territory has been accused of entering Japan's airspace. The policy change could nonetheless add to existing friction between the two governments.
Yomiuri Shimbun
13-06-2025
- General
- Yomiuri Shimbun
China Flexes Muscle With Reckless Fighter Jet Moves;Sending 2 Aircraft Carriers Into Pacific Also Symbolic
Courtesy of Defense Ministry's Joint Staff Office China's Shandong aircraft carrier The recent dangerous maneuvers conducted by at least one Chinese fighter jet close to at least one Maritime Self-Defense Force aircraft and the expanding reach of Beijing's aircraft carriers are China's latest flexes of its growing military might. A Chinese fighter jet that took off from the Shandong aircraft carrier sailing in the Pacific Ocean flew at a distance of about 45 meters of a Japanese MSDF P-3C patrol plane that was monitoring the vessel on June 7, and a similar incident occurred on Sunday, the Defense Ministry said Wednesday. In Sunday's incident, the Chinese jet also cut across in front of the P-3C. 'A Self-Defense Forces pilot wouldn't conduct those maneuvers,' a senior ministry official said about the unusual actions of the Chinese aircraft. The ministry said a Chinese J-15 fighter that took off from the Shandong followed a P-3C over international waters south of Miyakojima Island in Okinawa Prefecture for about 40 minutes in the Saturday incident and for about 80 minutes in the incident on June 7. In each case, the P-3C was maintaining a safe distance while monitoring the Shandong, but a J-15 approached the aircraft before moving away again. The J-15 flew at a distance of about 45 meters horizontally of the MSDF aircraft on both days. Photographs released by the ministry showed the pilot in the cockpit of the J-15 that flew on the P-3C's left side was wearing a blue helmet. The Yomiuri Shimbun 'If either pilot makes a mistake at that distance, it could lead to a collision,' another senior ministry official said. On Sunday, the J-15 flying at about the same altitude as the P-3C suddenly cut across the MSDF aircraft's path about 900 meters ahead of it. This posed a risk of the P-3C's engines stopping if turbulent airflow from the fighter jet's exhaust entered them. This was the first time for the ministry to publicly announce that a Chinese fighter had carried out such maneuvers. The J-15 appeared to be carrying at least one missile. The intention behind the dangerous Chinese midair maneuvers appears to have been to disrupt the P-3C's monitoring of the aircraft carrier. Although the SDF aircraft were not damaged, the Japanese government lodged protests through diplomatic channels on Tuesday, Wednesday and Thursday. Heightened sense of alarm China is improving its aircraft carriers' operational capabilities while expanding their activities in the Pacific Ocean as part of its strategy aimed at preventing U.S. military intervention in the event of a conflict in Taiwan or the South China Sea. The United States calls this strategy anti-access/area denial (A2/AD). Involving aircraft carriers, submarines, missiles and other weapons, A2/AD seeks to impede U.S. military movements between the 'second island chain,' which runs from Japan's Izu Islands to Guam, where U.S. bases are located, and the 'first island chain,' which stretches from Japan's Nansei Islands to the Philippines. The strategy also seeks to deny access within the first island chain, which is closer to China. China's first aircraft carrier, the Liaoning, was commissioned in 2012, and the Shandong became the second flattop to enter service in 2019. In early June, the Liaoning became the first Chinese carrier confirmed to have conducted activities in waters east of the second island chain. According to Japanese government sources, the Liaoning and the Shandong were both operating in the Pacific Ocean as of Thursday. This was the first time these carriers had been operating simultaneously in the Pacific. According to Defense Ministry materials, the Shandong has a full displacement of 66,000 tons and can carry 36 fighter jets and other equipment. Yoshihide Yoshida, chief of staff of the Joint Staff, expressed concern over these recent developments and insisted Japan would continue to closely monitor the situation. 'China's military activities are being stepped up at an extremely fast pace,' Yoshida, the SDF's top uniformed officer, said at a regular press conference Thursday. However, the sea and airspace areas that need to be monitored in the Pacific are vast, and the government will need to consider options such as deploying mobile radar units to remote island areas. Multilateral cooperation needed Yasuhiro Kawakami, a senior research fellow at the Sasakawa Peace Foundation and a former rear admiral in the MSDF, suggested China's recent naval activities had two main objectives. 'As well as getting a grasp on Japan's ability to respond to such situations, these operations were aimed at showing Japan and the United States that China has the capability to expand its influence in the Pacific,' Kawakami said. Sending the Liaoning past the second island chain for the first time also appears to have been China flaunting its ability to carry out operations in distant locations. Kawakami said Japan should continue its own monitoring and surveillance activities, but also work with other nations on this issue. 'Japan should bolster cooperation with United States and also like-minded nations in the Indo-Pacific region such as the Philippines and Australia,' Kawakami said. 'The nation should promote the sharing of accumulated information and strengthen its deterrence posture.'
Asahi Shimbun
12-06-2025
- Politics
- Asahi Shimbun
Tokyo expresses serious concern over Chinese jets' ‘abnormal approaches'
A Chinese J-15 fighter jet from the aircraft carrier Shandong flies unusually close to a Japanese P-3C patrol aircraft over the Pacific on June 8. (Provided by the Defense Ministry) TOKYO/BEIJING--Chinese fighter jets flew unusually close to Japanese patrol planes over the Pacific last weekend, Tokyo said, after it spotted two Chinese aircraft carriers simultaneously deployed in the waters for the first time. While Beijing said its military activities were "fully in line with international law" and asked Japan to stop its "dangerous" reconnaissance, Japanese and U.S. officials have seen the jets' actions as another sign of the Chinese military's growing assertiveness beyond its borders. Tokyo has "expressed serious concern ... and solemnly requested prevention of recurrence" to Beijing, Chief Cabinet Secretary Yoshimasa Hayashi said on Thursday, referring to the June 7-8 incidents in which Japan said Chinese jets flew as close as 45 meters (148 feet) to Japanese planes. On Saturday, a Chinese J-15 jet from the aircraft carrier Shandong chased a Japanese P-3C patrol aircraft for about 40 minutes, Japan's Defense Ministry said. On Sunday, a J-15 chased a P-3C for 80 minutes, crossing in front of the Japanese aircraft at a distance of only 900 meters, it added. A spokesperson at the ministry's Joint Staff Office declined to disclose whether the same planes were involved in the incidents on both days. The P-3C aircraft, belonging to a Maritime Self-Defense Force fleet based in the island of Okinawa, were conducting surveillance over international waters in the Pacific, according to the ministry. "Such abnormal approaches by Chinese military aircraft could potentially cause accidental collisions," the ministry said in a Wednesday statement, attaching close-up images of the missile-armed J-15 jet it took on Sunday. There was no damage to the Japanese planes and crew, it added. In response, China's foreign ministry spokesperson Lin Jian told a regular press conference that "the close-in reconnaissance by Japanese ships and planes of China's normal military activities is the root cause of the risk to maritime and air security. "The Chinese side urges the Japanese side to stop such dangerous behavior." Earlier this week, Tokyo said the Shandong and another Chinese carrier, the Liaoning, were conducting simultaneous operations in the Pacific for the first time. Beijing has said the operations were a "routine training" exercise that did not target specific countries. The Chinese presence in the sea and airspace in the southeast of the Japanese island chain has put Tokyo and its ally Washington on heightened alert, as Japan pursues its biggest military buildup since World War II in the wake of the intensifying security environment in East Asia, including over Taiwan. "Our sense of urgency is growing," General Yoshihide Yoshida, Chief of Staff of Japan's Joint Staff, told a briefing. "As evident in the South China Sea, the Chinese military has unilaterally changed the status quo through force wherever their military influence extends ... we will maintain a deterrent posture not to allow these actions normalized," added Yoshida, Japan's highest-ranking uniformed officer. "The recent dangerous maneuver by a Chinese fighter jet that put Japanese crewmembers' lives in peril must be another of Beijing's 'good neighbor' efforts," U.S. Ambassador to Japan George Glass said in an X post. "Whether it's harassing Philippine ships, attacking Vietnamese fishermen, or firing flares at Australian aircraft, Beijing knows only reckless aggression," Glass added, citing recent incidents in the South China Sea. In 2014, Tokyo said it spotted Chinese military aircraft flying as close as 30 meters to its military aircraft over the East China Sea and protested to Beijing.
New Straits Times
12-06-2025
- Politics
- New Straits Times
Chinese jets fly as close as 45 metres to Japanese patrol planes in Pacific
TOKYO/BEIJING: Chinese fighter jets flew unusually close to Japanese military patrol planes over the Pacific last weekend, Tokyo said, after it spotted two Chinese aircraft carriers simultaneously deployed in the waters for the first time. While Beijing said its military activities were "fully in line with international law" and asked Japan to stop its "dangerous" reconnaissance, Japanese and US officials have seen the jets' actions as another sign of the Chinese military's growing assertiveness beyond its borders. Tokyo has "expressed serious concern ... and solemnly requested prevention of recurrence" to Beijing, Chief Cabinet Secretary Yoshimasa Hayashi said on Thursday, referring to the June 7–8 incidents in which Japan said Chinese jets flew as close as 45 metres (148 feet) to Japanese planes. On Saturday, a Chinese J-15 jet from the aircraft carrier Shandong chased a Japanese P-3C patrol aircraft for about 40 minutes, Japan's defence ministry said. On Sunday, a J-15 chased a P-3C for 80 minutes, crossing in front of the Japanese aircraft at a distance of only 900 metres, it added. A spokesperson at the ministry's Joint Staff Office declined to disclose whether the same planes were involved in the incidents on both days. The P-3C aircraft, belonging to a Japan Maritime Self-Defence Force fleet based on the island of Okinawa, were conducting surveillance over international waters in the Pacific, according to the ministry. "Such abnormal approaches by Chinese military aircraft could potentially cause accidental collisions," the ministry said in a Wednesday statement, attaching close-up images of the missile-armed J-15 jet it took on Sunday. There was no damage to the Japanese planes and crew, it added. In response, China's foreign ministry spokesperson Lin Jian told a regular press conference that "the close-in reconnaissance by Japanese ships and planes of China's normal military activities is the root cause of the risk to maritime and air security. "The Chinese side urges the Japanese side to stop such dangerous behaviour." Earlier this week, Tokyo said the Shandong and another Chinese carrier, the Liaoning, were conducting simultaneous operations in the Pacific for the first time. Beijing has said the operations were a "routine training" exercise that did not target specific countries. The Chinese presence in the sea and airspace in the southeast of the Japanese island chain has put Tokyo and its ally Washington on heightened alert, as Japan pursues its biggest military build-up since World War Two in the wake of the intensifying security environment in East Asia, including over Taiwan. "Our sense of urgency is growing," General Yoshihide Yoshida, Chief of Staff of Japan's Joint Staff, told a briefing. "As evident in the South China Sea, the Chinese military has unilaterally changed the status quo through force wherever their military influence extends ... we will maintain a deterrent posture not to allow these actions normalised," added Yoshida, Japan's highest-ranking uniformed officer. "The recent dangerous manoeuvre by a Chinese fighter jet that put Japanese crewmembers' lives in peril must be another of Beijing's 'good neighbour' efforts," US Ambassador to Japan George Glass said in an X post. "Whether it's harassing Philippine ships, attacking Vietnamese fishermen, or firing flares at Australian aircraft, Beijing knows only reckless aggression," Glass added, citing recent incidents in the South China Sea. In 2014, Tokyo said it spotted Chinese military aircraft flying as close as 30 metres to its military aircraft over the East China Sea and protested to Beijing.
