Drill by PLA warships in Pacific via Osumi Strait indicates far sea capability boost, warning to Japan
Liu Xuanzun Published: Jun 02, 2021 08:16 PM
A naval fleet comprised of the guided-missile destroyers Ningbo (Hull 139) and Taiyuan (Hull 131), as well as the guided-missile frigate Nantong (Hull 601), steams in astern formation in waters of the East China Sea during a maritime training drill in late January, 2021. Photo:China Military Online
A Chinese People s Liberation Army (PLA) Navy flotilla reportedly entered the Pacific Ocean for exercises via the Osumi Strait on Monday, a move experts said on Wednesday was normal and an indication of the increasing far sea operational capability of the PLA Navy.
China State Media Says Frequent Warship Activity Near Japan a Warning
On 6/2/21 at 12:58 PM EDT
The
Global Times, which espouses some of the Chinese government s most hawkish views, accused Japan of acting hostile toward China through its protection of the disputed Senkaku Islands, which Beijing claims as its Diaoyu Islands.
The pointed article was published a day after the Japanese Defense Ministry s Joint Staff Office said it had detected three People s Liberation Army (PLA)warships sailing past Japanese islands into the Pacific on May 31.
The Chinese navy vessels were spotted about 150 nautical miles west of Yakushima Island south of Kyushu, one of Japan s five main islands and were monitored by the Japan Maritime Self-Defense Force helicopter destroyer JS
Relations between China and the Philippines continue to smolder; U.S. freedom of navigation operations continue; Japan and Europe move to address broader Indo-Pacific stability.
June 02, 2021 In this Feb. 10, 2020, file photo and released by the Republic of China (ROC) Ministry of National Defense, a Taiwanese Air Force F-16 in foreground flies on the flank of a Chinese People’s Liberation Army Air Force (PLAAF) H-6 bomber as it passes near Taiwan.
Credit: Republic of China (ROC) Ministry of National Defense via AP
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Tensions across the Taiwan Strait have risen sufficiently for The Economist to declare on the cover of its May 1, 2021 edition that Taiwan is now “the most dangerous place on Earth.” According to this narrative, Beijing has invested heavily in military capabilities that it can now bring to bear in a confrontation over Taiwan, which it regards as a renegade province. The Chinese Communist Party has never forsworn the use of force to achieve Taiwan’s unification with the mainland. To that end, China has only merely ramped up economic and diplomatic pressure on Taiwan, but dispatched aircraft across the previously-mutually