Several Chinese and Russian ships and a Chinese unmanned aerial vehicle operated around Japan on Sunday and Monday, according to the Japanese Joint Staff Office.
People’s Liberation Army Navy destroyer CNS Kaifeng (124) and frigate CNS Yantai (538) were sighted sailing northwest 31 miles south of Yonaguni Island and then sailed north in the waters between Yonaguni Island and Taiwan, according to a Monday JSO news release. The ships were later sighted in the East China Sea, 43 miles west of Uotsuri Island.
PLAN cruiser CNS Lhasa (102) and fleet oiler CNS Kekexilihu (903) were sighted at 1 a.m. local time sailing north 43 miles east of Miyako Island before sailing north in the waters between Miyako Island and Okinawa to enter the East China Sea. Japan Maritime Self Defense Force (JMSDF) destroyer JS Kirisame (DD-104) along with a JMSDF P-1 Maritime Patrol Aircraft (MPA) of Fleet Air Wing 1, based at JMSDF Kanoya Air Base, shadowed the PLAN ships, according to the release.
Meanwhile, PLAN Dongdiao-class surveillance ship Jinxing (799) was sighted sailing north in an area 37 miles south of Yonaguni Island at around 7 a.m. local time on Sunday, according to a second Monday JSO release. Jinxing then sailed north in the waters between Yonaguni Island and Iriomote Island. The ship was later seen sailing north in the East China Sea in an area 43 miles west of Uotsuri Island. Kirisame and a JMSDF P-3C Orion MPA from Fleet Air Wing 5 based at Naha Air Base on Okinawa monitored the PLAN ship, according to the release.
On Tuesday, Japan Air Self-Defense Force fighter aircraft of the Western Air District scrambled in reponse to a Chinese WZ-7 reconnaissance drone, which flew between Kyushu and Okinawa after launching from Anami Oshima, according to a JSO release. The WZ-7 drone then turned around and flew north, subsequently circled over an area in the East China Sea and then headed northwest to return to the Chinese mainland.
Japanese ships and aircraft also surveilled Russian ships sailing near the country.
Russian Navy corvettes RFS Sovetskaya Gavan (350) and RFS Koryeyets (390) were sighted around 6 a.m. on Saturday sailing east in an area 31 miles northwest of Rebun Island. They then sailed east through La Perouse Strait.
The next day, at noon, corvettes RFS R-298 (971) and RFS R-261 (991) were sighted sailing southwest in an area 31 miles northeast of Cape Soya, the northernmost point of the main island of Hokkaido. The Russian corvettes then sailed west through La Perouse Strait to enter the Sea of Japan. Fast attack craft JS Wakataka (PG-825) and JMSDF P-3C Orions MPA of Fleet Air Wing 2 based at JMSDF Hachinohe Air Base on the main island of Honshu conducted surveillance on the Russian ships, according to a JSO release.
Russian Navy ships routinely transit La Perouse Strait, an international waterway that lies between Hokkaido and Russia’s island of Sakhalin to move between the Sea of Japan and Sea of Okhotsk. Japan views both Russia and China as a threat to its security and has JMSDF ships and aircraft routinely shadow the two countries’ ships that operate near Japan.
Chinese warships Kaifeng and Yantai sailed through the Tsugaru Strait, which lies between the main islands of Honshu and Hokkaido, from June 30 to July 1, to enter the Pacific Ocean, while Lhasa and Kekexilihu had sailed through La Perouse Strait, which separates Hokkaido from Russia’s Sakhalin Island, on July 1, to enter the Sea of Okhotsk, according to the release.
The U.S. Coast Guard may have spotted the four PLAN ships between July 6 and 7 in the U.S. Economic Exclusive Zone. These passages are permitted under international law.
“The Chinese naval presence operated in accordance with international rules and norms,” Rear Adm. Megan Dean, the 17th Coast Guard District commander, said in a Coast Guard release. “We met presence with presence to ensure there were no disruptions to U.S. interests in the maritime environment around Alaska.”
The Coast Guard release did not identify the PLAN ships. The Chinese ships responded to U.S. Coast Guard radio communication and their stated purpose was “freedom of navigation operations.”
Japan, US Begin Exercise Resolute Dragon 24
Meanwhile, in Japan on Sunday, the U.S. Marine Corps and JGSDF began Exercise Resolute Dragon 24. The exercise will take place across Japan until Aug. 7, according to a Marine Corps release.
“Resolute Dragon showcases the longstanding partnership between the U.S. Marine Corps and Japan Ground Self Defense Force,” U.S. Marine Corps Lt. Gen. Roger Turner, the commanding general of III Marine Expeditionary Force, said in the release. “Together, we seamlessly integrate joint multi-domain operations and are ready to respond to crisis at any moment.”
About 3,000 U.S. sailors and Marins will drill with the Japan Self-Defense Force’s Western Army, according to the release.
“Resolute Dragon 24 will include training events such as the deployment of a TPS-80 radar to Yonaguni, bilateral low altitude training with U.S. and Japanese V-22 Osprey tiltrotor aircraft, and force-on-force and live-fire training in multiple locations,” the release reads.
Yonaguni Island, which is located around 68 miles to the east of Taiwan, has been identified as a key area in Japan’s planning for the defense of its southwest islands and the disputed Senkaku Islands, held by Japan but claimed by China and Taiwan. Japan plans to soon station surface-to-surface missiles on the island to join the radar site on the island, which monitors Chinese military movements in the area.
On Tuesday, Japan’s Ministry of Defense announced that Royal Canadian Navy (RCN) frigate HMCS Montreal (FFH336) monitored illicit maritime activities from mid-June to late July. This included ship-to-ship transfers with North Korean-flagged vessels, prohibited by the United Nations Security Council resolutions, in the waters around Japan. The release noted that this was the ninth time since 2018 that an RCN ship has conducted the mission.
The Chinese military has previously harassed Canadian and Australian ships and Canadian aircraft performing the monitoring missions, but so far no such incidents have been reported in regard to Montreal’s recent mission. China routinely claims that the U.N. surveillance missions are cover for reconnaissance missions on China and that its military has always acted lawfully and professionally in such encounters.
After completing its monitoring mission, Montreal carried out a replenishment at-sea exercise with JMSDF fleet oiler JS Tokiwa (AOE-423) in the East China Sea on Monday. On Tuesday it conducted bilateral operations with destroyer USS Ralph Johnson (DDG-114) in the East China Sea.
