A Chinese missile destroyer fired live rounds for the first time inside Japan’s exclusive economic zone (EEZ) during a drill on Sunday, a day before Chinese and Philippine sailors clashed in the South China Sea.
Three Chinese warships and a Russian frigate were spotted sailing between Okinawa’s main island and Miyako island into the Pacific on Thursday, before being picked up again around 330km south-west of Okinotori in the early hours of Sunday morning.
The Chinese missile destroyer then issued a warning to shipping that it would be carrying out the drill, which reportedly included machine guns using live ammunition. The drill was conducted about 180km from Okinotori, the southernmost island of Japan, which extends its EEZ to the waters around it.
Tokyo sees the drill – which prompted the mobilisation of air and sea surveillance efforts – as “part of a move by the two militaries toward strengthening their cooperation,” Japan’s top government spokesman Minoru Kihara said at a Tuesday briefing.
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