Japan's navy said yesterday it was keeping a close eye on Chinese military moves after five warships were spotted near disputed gas fields and the reported incursion of a spy plane.
Japan said Friday it saw Chinese warships, including a destroyer, for the first time near the gas field in the East China Sea amid high tensions between the two countries.
"We are aware of most of their [China's] activities and we will do our utmost to monitor the situation," said Admiral Takashi Saito, the chief of staff of Japan's Maritime Self Defense Force.
PHOTO: AP
The ships were seen just on China's side of what Japan considers the dividing line in the sea. China does not recognize the line.
Meanwhile, Kyodo News, citing unnamed sources in a dispatch from Washington, said a Chinese spy plane was spotted twice last month over the East China Sea south of mainland Japan's southern island of Kyushu.
The plane was flying in Japanese airspace and could likely catch radio waves and electronic data from Japanese warships or military facilities, it said. The aircraft seemed to be carrying out an exercise or test in Japan's designated air defense zone, Kyodo quoted an unidentified source as saying.
China has never confirmed the existence of such a plane but the US Defense Department believes Beijing is focusing on "electronic warfare" as it expands its military spending, the report said.
Japan's Defense Agency is aware of the spy plane report but had no immediate comment, a spokesman said.
Kyodo said this was the first time a Chinese electronic surveillance aircraft had been spotted, and quoted its sources as saying the plane's purpose was identified by its external features and flight pattern.
Both Japan and the US have recently expressed concern about China's growing military spending.
Meanwhile, the Japanese government announced yesterday that it hopes to reach an agreement with the US next month on a realignment of US forces in the country.
AIR SUPPORT: The Ministry of National Defense thanked the US for the delivery, adding that it was an indicator of the White House’s commitment to the Taiwan Relations Act Deputy Minister of National Defense Po Horng-huei (柏鴻輝) and Representative to the US Alexander Yui on Friday attended a delivery ceremony for the first of Taiwan’s long-awaited 66 F-16C/D Block 70 jets at a Lockheed Martin Corp factory in Greenville, South Carolina. “We are so proud to be the global home of the F-16 and to support Taiwan’s air defense capabilities,” US Representative William Timmons wrote on X, alongside a photograph of Taiwanese and US officials at the event. The F-16C/D Block 70 jets Taiwan ordered have the same capabilities as aircraft that had been upgraded to F-16Vs. The batch of Lockheed Martin
GRIDLOCK: The National Fire Agency’s Special Search and Rescue team is on standby to travel to the countries to help out with the rescue effort A powerful earthquake rocked Myanmar and neighboring Thailand yesterday, killing at least three people in Bangkok and burying dozens when a high-rise building under construction collapsed. Footage shared on social media from Myanmar’s second-largest city showed widespread destruction, raising fears that many were trapped under the rubble or killed. The magnitude 7.7 earthquake, with an epicenter near Mandalay in Myanmar, struck at midday and was followed by a strong magnitude 6.4 aftershock. The extent of death, injury and destruction — especially in Myanmar, which is embroiled in a civil war and where information is tightly controlled at the best of times —
Taiwan was ranked the fourth-safest country in the world with a score of 82.9, trailing only Andorra, the United Arab Emirates and Qatar in Numbeo’s Safety Index by Country report. Taiwan’s score improved by 0.1 points compared with last year’s mid-year report, which had Taiwan fourth with a score of 82.8. However, both scores were lower than in last year’s first review, when Taiwan scored 83.3, and are a long way from when Taiwan was named the second-safest country in the world in 2021, scoring 84.8. Taiwan ranked higher than Singapore in ninth with a score of 77.4 and Japan in 10th with
China's military today said it began joint army, navy and rocket force exercises around Taiwan to "serve as a stern warning and powerful deterrent against Taiwanese independence," calling President William Lai (賴清德) a "parasite." The exercises come after Lai called Beijing a "foreign hostile force" last month. More than 10 Chinese military ships approached close to Taiwan's 24 nautical mile (44.4km) contiguous zone this morning and Taiwan sent its own warships to respond, two senior Taiwanese officials said. Taiwan has not yet detected any live fire by the Chinese military so far, one of the officials said. The drills took place after US Secretary
RSS