Latest news with #ChineseMilitary
Reuters
11 hours ago
- General
- Reuters
UK Royal Navy vessel sails through Taiwan Strait
LONDON, June 19 (Reuters) - A British Royal Navy vessel sailed through the Taiwan Strait on Thursday, a Navy spokesperson said, saying the passage was in full compliance with international law. "HMS Spey's routine navigation through the Taiwan Strait was part of a long-planned deployment and took place in full compliance with international law," the spokesperson said in a statement. The last time a British warship sailed through the strait was in 2021, when HMS Richmond was deployed in the East China Sea en route to Vietnam. Chinese military followed it at the time and warned it away.
Japan Times
2 days ago
- Politics
- Japan Times
In rare move, Japan releases map showing Chinese aircraft carrier activities
The Japanese Defense Ministry has made the rare decision to release a map depicting the movements of the Chinese military's two aircraft carriers in recent weeks — an unusual effort apparently aimed at drawing attention to Beijing's naval activities in the Pacific. China's two operating carriers were spotted conducting simultaneous operations in the Pacific for the first time last week, in what Japanese defense officials have said is a significant expansion of Chinese naval activities. The ministry released the map late Tuesday detailing the Chinese carriers' positions from May 25 through Monday in order to highlight the unusual duration of their operations. It is rare for the ministry to disclose the movements of foreign warships. The map shows the Liaoning, China's first aircraft carrier, making a circuitous route that took it through the Miyako Strait, into the Pacific Ocean and ultimately inside the exclusive economic zone of Japan's easternmost Minamitorishima island for the first time before sailing west. It also shows China's second carrier, the Shandong, entering the Pacific through the Bashi Channel that separates Taiwan and the Philippines before entering the EEZ around Japan's Okinotorishima island and circling the far-flung islet. It also details the carrier's location when fighter jets from the vessel risked collisions with Maritime Self-Defense Force P-3C surveillance planes in two close encounters earlier this month. A screenshot of a map released by the Japanese Defense Ministry depicting the movements of the Chinese military's two aircraft carriers in recent weeks As of Tuesday, the two Chinese vessels were in the Pacific sailing toward China. In a document accompanying the map, the Defense Ministry also detailed that fighter jets and helicopters based on the Chinese aircraft carriers had conducted 520 landings and takeoffs over the nine days through Monday. The Liaoning launched and landed aircraft about 290 times from June 8, while the Shandong saw about 230 such operations from June 9. At a news conference Friday, Defense Minister Gen Nakatani stressed that Tokyo would seek to highlight Chinese military activities amid concerns that Beijing is seeking to erode the status quo in the area. 'We intend to continue to publicize information obtained through surveillance and monitoring activities in a timely and appropriate manner, demonstrating that Japan is conducting seamless information gathering and surveillance,' Nakatani said. 'This will demonstrate Japan's desire and ability to deter unilateral attempts to change the status quo by force or other such actions.' Japanese defense officials say that China is working to improve the operational capabilities of the two aircraft carriers in the waters and airspace in the Pacific Ocean as part of a strategy that aims to prevent the U.S. and Japanese militaries from intervening in a potential conflict over democratic Taiwan. China claims the self-ruled island as its own and has vowed to unite it with the mainland, by force if necessary. Defense ministry officials believe that the recent sailings by the Liaoning and Shandong carriers may have been intended to practice 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. Pointing to the growing threat China's exercises in the areas represent, Gen. Yoshihide Yoshida, chief of staff of the Self-Defense Forces' Joint Staff, told a news conference last week that the moves had triggered concern. 'Our sense of crisis has heightened,' he said. 'We recognize that if we relax the surveillance and monitoring measures ... there is a high possibility that unilateral changes to the status quo could become established facts,' Yoshida said. 'Therefore, we intend to firmly demonstrate our commitment to improving such measures.'
South China Morning Post
4 days ago
- Business
- South China Morning Post
China weathers tariff storm in May, PLA patrols in disputed waters: SCMP daily highlights
Catch up on some of SCMP's biggest China stories of the day. If you would like to see more of our reporting, please consider subscribing Supply chain competition between China and the United States is set to intensify over the next five years, with eight developing countries – including four in the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (Asean) – poised to benefit from the relocation of manufacturing from China, according to a recent study. China's economic data sent mixed signals in May, with US tariffs continuing to weigh on the country's manufacturing and exports but domestic consumption picking up slightly in the run-up to a major online shopping festival. The Chinese military conducted patrols in the South China Sea on Saturday while a Philippine-Japan joint drill was under way. Photo: PLA Southern Theatre Command The Chinese military carried out patrols in the South China Sea on Saturday, as the Philippines and Japan held a joint drill in the disputed waters.
Japan Times
4 days ago
- Politics
- Japan Times
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.
South China Morning Post
5 days ago
- Politics
- South China Morning Post
‘Nothing new': US Army parade holds no surprises for Chinese military minds
The US Army's parade through Washington on Saturday offered no surprises, Chinese military observers said, while cautioning that the full force of American power was not on show. The parade for the US Army's 250th anniversary showcased a range of American equipment, including Abrams tanks, Paladin artillery, robot dogs, reconnaissance drones, AH-64 Apache helicopters and Joint Light Tactical Vehicles. Most of the technology is well known, with machinery such as the Abrams tanks deployed widely in conflicts ranging from the Middle East to Ukraine. The US equipment also has well-established Chinese equivalents, such as China's Z-20 helicopter , which is considered comparable to America's Sikorsky UH-60 Black Hawk. The Z-20 has advanced fly-by-wire controls, a five-blade main rotor for improved lift and range, powerful domestic engines and enhanced defensive systems. Less is known about newer equipment such as the drones and robot dogs, and the roles those weapons would play in a conflict Song Zhongping, a military commentator and former People's Liberation Army (PLA) instructor, said that many of the US Army's weapons were developed well before their Chinese counterparts, and although there had been upgrades in recent years, there were 'some shortcomings to a certain extent' in the American equipment.
