Japan says it scrambled jets to monitor Chinese aircraft carrier operations

Japanese and U.S. fighter jets conduct a joint drill over the East China Sea on Tuesday. Courtesy of the Defense Ministry’s Joint Staff Office via The Japan News/Asia News Network

TOKYO — Japan said on Monday it scrambled jet fighters and dispatched aircraft and warships over the past two weeks to keep tabs on China’s Liaoning aircraft carrier and five warships that conducted naval maneuvers and flight operations in the Pacific.

Japan monitored the operations after the Chinese naval group, which included missile destroyers, sailed between the main Okinawa island and Miyakojima island into the Western Pacific from the East China Sea on Dec. 16, Japan’s Ministry of Defense said in a press release.

Before returning the same way on Sunday, the Chinese carrier conducted more than 300 take-offs and landings of fixed-wing aircraft and helicopters, added the ministry, which did not report any incursions into Japanese territorial waters or skies.

While China has conducted similar operations in the past, including one in May, the latest large-scale military drills close to Japanese islands come after Japan announced it would double defense spending over the next five years in a bid to deter China from using its military to push territorial claims in the region, including against neighboring Taiwan.

Japan also reported that it had detected a flight by a Chinese WZ-7 drone on Sunday close to Miyakojima, the first time it has spotted the high-altitude drone in the area.

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