The Chinese Navy sent its Liaoning aircraft carrier flotilla for joint military training in the western Pacific, the Defense Ministry in Beijing announced Wednesday, with Japan expected to keep a watchful eye on the drills. The ministry said in a brief statement that the exercises are being “organized in accordance with the annual routine training plan, aiming to test and improve the group’s realistic training level and continuously enhance the capabilities to execute missions.” It emphasized that the drills are “in compliance with relevant international law and practices and not directed against any specific country or target.” The statement did not offer further details, but the Chinese Navy has in recent years sent its forces deep into the western Pacific, triggering concern in Tokyo as it operates in the area — one some Japanese defense officials have said is an exposed flank. The increased tempo of drills there has prompted a rise in close encounters between the Chinese military and the Self-Defense Forces, with the most recent incident occurring in June.
In that encounter, Beijing accused Tokyo of “dangerous” close-in reconnaissance and “provocative harassment” during more than 40 days of “far-sea combat training” by the Liaoning flotilla. The Japanese Defense Ministry’s Joint Staff Office refuted those claims, pledging to “continue to maintain a calm and resolute stance, prioritizing safety above all else, while professionally and diligently conducting surveillance and monitoring in the waters and airspace surrounding Japan.” Last December, fighter jets from the Liaoning carrier twice locked their radar on Air Self-Defense Force aircraft over international waters southeast of Okinawa Prefecture. In the summer of last year, China also dispatched the Liaoning and another of its aircraft carriers deep into the western Pacific and sent its warplanes near Japanese aircraft multiple times — moves that Tokyo said risked collisions.
Still, Tokyo has been taking a cautious — if firm — approach to avoiding any escalation with Beijing, after ties plummeted to their lowest point in decades following Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi’s remarks last November that Japan could hypothetically intervene militarily in a Taiwan crisis. China claims democratic Taiwan as its own and has vowed to bring it under its control, by force if necessary. Many policymakers in Tokyo view any moves against Taiwan as also representing an existential threat to Japan.
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