Japan's navy said yesterday it was keeping a close eye on Chinese military moves after five warships were spotted near disputed gas fields and the reported incursion of a spy plane.
Japan said Friday it saw Chinese warships, including a destroyer, for the first time near the gas field in the East China Sea amid high tensions between the two countries.
"We are aware of most of their [China's] activities and we will do our utmost to monitor the situation," said Admiral Takashi Saito, the chief of staff of Japan's Maritime Self Defense Force.
PHOTO: AP
The ships were seen just on China's side of what Japan considers the dividing line in the sea. China does not recognize the line.
Meanwhile, Kyodo News, citing unnamed sources in a dispatch from Washington, said a Chinese spy plane was spotted twice last month over the East China Sea south of mainland Japan's southern island of Kyushu.
The plane was flying in Japanese airspace and could likely catch radio waves and electronic data from Japanese warships or military facilities, it said. The aircraft seemed to be carrying out an exercise or test in Japan's designated air defense zone, Kyodo quoted an unidentified source as saying.
China has never confirmed the existence of such a plane but the US Defense Department believes Beijing is focusing on "electronic warfare" as it expands its military spending, the report said.
Japan's Defense Agency is aware of the spy plane report but had no immediate comment, a spokesman said.
Kyodo said this was the first time a Chinese electronic surveillance aircraft had been spotted, and quoted its sources as saying the plane's purpose was identified by its external features and flight pattern.
Both Japan and the US have recently expressed concern about China's growing military spending.
Meanwhile, the Japanese government announced yesterday that it hopes to reach an agreement with the US next month on a realignment of US forces in the country.
LIMITS: While China increases military pressure on Taiwan and expands its use of cognitive warfare, it is unwilling to target tech supply chains, the report said US and Taiwan military officials have warned that the Chinese People’s Liberation Army (PLA) could implement a blockade within “a matter of hours” and need only “minimal conversion time” prior to an attack on Taiwan, a report released on Tuesday by the US Senate’s China Economic and Security Review Commission said. “While there is no indication that China is planning an imminent attack, the United States and its allies and partners can no longer assume that a Taiwan contingency is a distant possibility for which they would have ample time to prepare,” it said. The commission made the comments in its annual
DETERMINATION: Beijing’s actions toward Tokyo have drawn international attention, but would likely bolster regional coordination and defense networks, the report said Japanese Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi’s administration is likely to prioritize security reforms and deterrence in the face of recent “hybrid” threats from China, the National Security Bureau (NSB) said. The bureau made the assessment in a written report to the Legislative Yuan ahead of an oral report and questions-and-answers session at the legislature’s Foreign Affairs and National Defense Committee tomorrow. The key points of Japan’s security reforms would be to reinforce security cooperation with the US, including enhancing defense deployment in the first island chain, pushing forward the integrated command and operations of the Japan Self-Defense Forces and US Forces Japan, as
IN THE NATIONAL INTEREST: Deputy Minister of Foreign Affairs Francois Wu said the strengthening of military facilities would help to maintain security in the Taiwan Strait Japanese Minister of Defense Shinjiro Koizumi, visiting a military base close to Taiwan, said plans to deploy missiles to the post would move forward as tensions smolder between Tokyo and Beijing. “The deployment can help lower the chance of an armed attack on our country,” Koizumi told reporters on Sunday as he wrapped up his first trip to the base on the southern Japanese island of Yonaguni. “The view that it will heighten regional tensions is not accurate.” Former Japanese minister of defense Gen Nakatani in January said that Tokyo wanted to base Type 03 Chu-SAM missiles on Yonaguni, but little progress
INTERCEPTION: The 30km test ceiling shows that the CSIST is capable of producing missiles that could stop inbound missiles as they re-enter the atmosphere Recent missile tests by the Chungshan Institute of Science and Technology (CSIST) show that Taiwan’s missiles are capable of intercepting ballistic missiles as they re-enter the atmosphere and pose a significant deterrent to Chinese missile threats, former Hsiung Feng III missile development project chief engineer Chang Cheng (張誠) said yesterday. The military-affiliated institute has been conducting missile tests, believed to be related to Project Chiang Kung (強弓) at Pingtung County’s Jiupeng Military Base, with many tests deviating from past practices of setting restriction zones at “unlimited” and instead clearly stating a 30.48km range, Chang said. “Unlimited” restrictions zones for missile tests is
RSS