A mysterious submarine that briefly entered Japanese territorial waters earlier this week without identifying itself came from China, Japan's top government spokesman said yesterday.
Japan's navy has been on alert since Wednesday, when the submarine was first spotted off the nation's southern island of Okinawa.
Tokyo had sent reconnaissance aircraft and naval destroyers to shadow the submarine, which had spent about two hours inside Japanese waters before heading north.
Chief Cabinet Secretary Hiroyuki Hosoda said Tokyo had concluded that it was a Chinese nuclear submarine after considering a range of factors, including the fact that the submarine appeared to be heading toward China.
"Judging from several pieces of information, we found that the submarine belongs to the Chinese navy and we plan to lodge a protest soon through diplomatic channels," Hosoda told a news conference.
Defense Agency chief Yoshinori Ono lifted Japan's naval alert yesterday, Hosoda said.
He didn't specify whether the aircraft and destroyers were returning home or whether the submarine had surfaced.
Tokyo had previously said it couldn't identify the submarine because it remained under water. Japanese media had cited defense officials as saying it likely was a Chinese Han-class nuclear submarine, based on the noise it was making and the length of time it had stayed beneath the sea's surface.
Beijing had no immediate comment.
On Thursday, China's Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Zhang Qiyue ((
Territorial disputes have occasionally flared up between Japan and its neighbors, China and South Korea. In recent months, Tokyo has squabbled with Beijing over natural gas deposits in the East China Sea.
Japan has accused China of conducting surveys for gas fields near Okinawa that extend into Japanese territorial waters.
China says its activities are close to its coast and don't concern Japan and has rejected offering more information.
Japan has been considering ways to boost its maritime defenses after a shoot out with a suspected North Korean spy ship in December 2001.
Auschwitz survivor Eva Schloss, the stepsister of teenage diarist Anne Frank and a tireless educator about the horrors of the Holocaust, has died. She was 96. The Anne Frank Trust UK, of which Schloss was honorary president, said she died on Saturday in London, where she lived. Britain’s King Charles III said he was “privileged and proud” to have known Schloss, who cofounded the charitable trust to help young people challenge prejudice. “The horrors that she endured as a young woman are impossible to comprehend and yet she devoted the rest of her life to overcoming hatred and prejudice, promoting kindness, courage, understanding
Tens of thousands of Filipino Catholics yesterday twirled white cloths and chanted “Viva, viva,” as a centuries-old statue of Jesus Christ was paraded through the streets of Manila in the nation’s biggest annual religious event. The day-long procession began before dawn, with barefoot volunteers pulling the heavy carriage through narrow streets where the devout waited in hopes of touching the icon, believed to hold miraculous powers. Thousands of police were deployed to manage crowds that officials believe could number in the millions by the time the statue reaches its home in central Manila’s Quiapo church around midnight. More than 800 people had sought
‘DISRESPECTFUL’: Katie Miller, the wife of Trump’s most influential adviser, drew ire by posting an image of Greenland in the colors of the US flag, captioning it ‘SOON’ US President Donald Trump on Sunday doubled down on his claim that Greenland should become part of the US, despite calls by the Danish prime minister to stop “threatening” the territory. Washington’s military intervention in Venezuela has reignited fears for Greenland, which Trump has repeatedly said he wants to annex, given its strategic location in the arctic. While aboard Air Force One en route to Washington, Trump reiterated the goal. “We need Greenland from the standpoint of national security, and Denmark is not going to be able to do it,” he said in response to a reporter’s question. “We’ll worry about Greenland in
PERILOUS JOURNEY: Over just a matter of days last month, about 1,600 Afghans who were at risk of perishing due to the cold weather were rescued in the mountains Habibullah set off from his home in western Afghanistan determined to find work in Iran, only for the 15-year-old to freeze to death while walking across the mountainous frontier. “He was forced to go, to bring food for the family,” his mother, Mah Jan, said at her mud home in Ghunjan village. “We have no food to eat, we have no clothes to wear. The house in which I live has no electricity, no water. I have no proper window, nothing to burn for heating,” she added, clutching a photograph of her son. Habibullah was one of at least 18 migrants who died
RSS