Japan suspects Chinese aircraft carriers conducted drills against U.S.
The Defense Ministry believes Chinese aircraft carriers recently found operating in the Pacific may have conducted drills for countering U.S. forces in the event of a Taiwan contingency.
The ministry last week announced for the first time that it had spotted two Chinese aircraft carriers operating simultaneously in Pacific waters near Japan.
The vessels sailed within Japan's exclusive economic zone near remote islands that are part of the Ogasawara chain. There were also incidents in which a Chinese fighter jet based on one of the flattops flew dangerously close to a Maritime Self-Defense Force plane.
The ministry is analyzing China's intentions behind these operations, sources said.
Of the Chinese aircraft carriers, the Liaoning crossed for the first time what is called the second island chain, which links the Ogasawara Islands and the U.S. territory of Guam, sailing within the EEZ around Minamitori Island on June 7.
China is said to regard the second island chain as a defense line to keep at bay U.S. aircraft carriers and submarines coming from Guam and elsewhere in the event of a Taiwan contingency.
According to ministry sources, the Liaoning and the other flattop, Shandong, may have conducted exercises for countering U.S. forces in the event of a Taiwan contingency, with one playing the role of a U.S. aircraft carrier and the other practicing intercepting it.
Regarding the close encounters between the Japanese and Chinese planes, some observers say China may have made the moves because it did not want Japanese aircraft to approach the air defense zone established by the carrier fleet.
The Shandong operated in the EEZ around Okinotorishima island on June 9, with the departures and arrivals of carrier-based aircraft confirmed.
In the EEZ around Okinotorishima, a Chinese marine research ship operated without Japan's consent in late May. Although the Japanese government protested, China maintained its position of not recognizing the EEZ, saying that Okinotorishima is not an island but rocks.
"It is necessary to examine whether there is any connection between the marine research ship and the Chinese military behavior in the EEZ," a ruling party member said.
The sea area around Minamitori where the Liaoning sailed is believed to hold significant seabed resources.
According to the International Seabed Authority, China plans to test-mine for manganese nodules, which contain minor metals, from the seabed in international waters outside Japan's EEZ around Minamitori under exploration rights granted by the ISA.
"We will take all possible measures for warning and surveillance and deter any attempts to unilaterally change the status quo by force," Defense Minister Gen Nakatani told a press conference Friday.
"We will proceed with a detailed analysis" of the latest movements of Chinese aircraft carriers, he added.
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