In unprecedented provocation, two navies circle nation in less than a week
Osumi Peninsula and Tanegashima Island are both in Japan's Kagoshima Prefecture. (Google Maps)
Nikkei staff writersOctober 24, 2021 02:08 JST
TOKYO -- Four days after passing through a maritime chokepoint in northern Japan, 10 Chinese and Russian warships have now sailed through a southern chokepoint, in effect circumnavigating the nation in an unprecedented provocative move.
In a statement, Japanese Defense Ministry's Joint Staff said 10 vessels passed westward through the Osumi Strait between Osumi Peninsula and Tanegashima Island, both in the southern prefecture of Kagoshima, on Friday. Tokyo said this was the first time Chinese and Russian ships have jointly sailed through the Osumi Strait.
The 10 ships are the same that passed the northern chokepoint Tsugaru Strait that runs between Japan's main Honshu island and the island of Hokkaido on Monday.
Like the Tsugaru Strait, the Osumi Strait only counts 3 nautical miles from each shore as territorial waters, as opposed to the customary 12 miles, leaving the central portion of the narrow strait as international waters. This is said to be a Cold War relic that let American vessels carrying nuclear weapons pass through, without violating Japan's "Three Non-Nuclear Principles," which prohibit the introduction of nuclear weapons into Japanese territory.
Japan has five such chokepoints that only count 3 miles as territorial waters, with the others being the Soya Strait, between the northern tip of Hokkaido and the Russian island of Sakhalin; and the east portion and west portion of the Tsushima Strait, which lies between South Korea and Japan.
The maritime convoy consists of five Chinese vessels -- one Renhai-class destroyer, one Luyang-III-class destroyer, two Jiangkai-class frigate and one Fuchi-class replenishment oiler -- and five Russian vessels, including two Udaloy-class destroyers, two Steregushchiy-class corvettes and one Marshal Nedelin-class missile-tracking ship.
On Saturday, the Joint Staff identified the Chinese Renhai-class destroyer conducting helicopter takeoff and landing practices 130 km southeast of Danjo Islands in Nagasaki Prefecture, further north of Kagoshima.
The Japanese side monitored the Chinese and Russian ships by deploying Asagiri-class destroyer JS Yamagiri from Yokosuka, Kanagwa Prefecture, and Abukuma-class destroyer escort ship JS Tone from Kure, Hiroshima Prefecture. A P-1 maritime patrol plane was sent from Kanoya, Kagoshima.
A jet fighter was scrambled to respond to the Chinese helicopter movement.
No comments:
Post a Comment