Tag: East China Sea

Canadian navy ships ‘buzzed’ by Chinese warplanes

OTTAWA, Canada (AFP) — Two Canadian naval vessels were “buzzed” by Chinese fighter jets when they sailed through the East China Sea this week, the Canadian military said Thursday. A Canadian navy helicopter was also targeted by a laser detected from a nearby fishing boat, it said in a statement. There were no injuries nor damage, but the revelations come amid heightened tensions between the two nations over Canada’s arrest of a senior telecoms executive […]

US B-52s fly over South and East China Seas

WASHINGTON, United States (AFP) — US B-52 bombers have recently conducted transit operations in the South China Sea and East China Sea, the Pentagon said Wednesday, amid soaring tensions with Beijing over trade tariffs. Late Tuesday the heavy bombers “participated in a regularly scheduled, combined operation in the East China Sea,” Pentagon spokesman Lieutenant Colonel Dave Eastburn said. A defense official said the nuclear-capable aircrafts were escorted by Japanese fighters and the flight was part […]

Chinese carrier leads live fire drill in East China Sea

BEIJING, China (AFP) — A flotilla of Chinese naval vessels held a “live combat drill” in the East China Sea, state media reported early Tuesday, the latest show of force by Beijing’s burgeoning navy in disputed waters that have riled neighbors. The state-run Xinhua news agency said the vessels, led by China’s sole aircraft carrier the Liaoning, “took part in anti-aircraft and anti-submarine warfare training” with a simulated “opposing force”. Xinhua said the drill, which […]

Chinese military planes intercept US aircraft: reports

WASHINGTON, United States (AFP) — Two Chinese fighter jets intercepted an American military plane over the East China Sea, media in the United States reported Thursday, citing US officials. NBC News reported that the US aircraft, a WC-135 Constant Phoenix, was conducting a routine mission in international airspace Wednesday when it was intercepted over the East China Sea by two Chinese Sukhoi Su-30 fighter aircraft. The WC-135 is a so-called “sniffer plane” designed to scan […]

Japan to offer patrol planes to Malaysia: report

TOKYO, Japan (AFP) — Japan plans to donate retired military patrol aircraft to Malaysia, a report said Friday, as alliances strengthen in response to China’s maritime claims. The two countries are among a number in the region stepping up defense cooperation against what they see as Beijing’s aggressive stance on the high seas. Beijing insists it has sovereign rights to almost all of the South China Sea — strategically vital waters, where the Philippines, Vietnam, […]

26 N. Koreans rescued as cargo ship sinks off Japan

TOKYO, Japan (AFP) — Japan rescued 26 North Koreans after they abandoned their sinking cargo vessel in the East China Sea, the coast guard said Thursday. Japan Coast Guard patrol boats plucked the ship’s entire crew out of the water in the early hours of the morning after they had abandoned the vessel and taken to life boats. A distress signal was received Wednesday from the 6,558-tonne Chong Gen which began sinking about 60 kilometres […]

CHN air force conducts drills in East China Sea, West PHL Sea anew this month

BEIJING (Reuters) — China’s air force said on Sunday it had flown more than 40 bombers and other fighter planes through a strait between Japanese islands on their way to drills in the Western Pacific. Regular long range drills in the Western Pacific and patrols over the East China Sea air defense identification zone were for the Air Force to protect China’s sovereignty and national security, China’s air force spokesman Shen Jinke said, according to […]

Japan ‘seriously concerned’ by South China Sea tension

VIENTIANE, Laos (AFP) — Japan is “seriously concerned” about Beijing’s increasingly muscular claims in the South China Sea, Prime Minister Shinzo Abe told Asian leaders Wednesday. Beijing insists it has sovereign rights to almost all of the strategically vital waters, where the Philippines, Vietnam, Malaysia, Brunei and Taiwan also have claims. It also has a simmering territorial row with Tokyo over disputed islands in the East China Sea. “I am seriously concerned with the continuing […]

China’s Xi and Japan’s Abe to meet at G20

HANGZHOU, China (AFP) — Chinese President Xi Jinping will meet Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe in China Monday, Tokyo said, their first meeting in more than a year with their nations divided by territorial disputes and recriminations over history. “There are difficult issues between Japan and China, and because of that, it is important that the leaders exchange honest opinions and make improvements,” chief cabinet secretary Yoshihide Suga told reporters. The meeting will follow the […]

Japan’s military seeks record spending to counter North Korea, China moves

GOTEMBA, Japan (Reuters) — Japan’s defense ministry on Wednesday (August 31) asked for a hike in spending to record levels, as it juggles its responses to a growing ballistic missile threat from North Korea and China’s assertive moves in the East China Sea. If approved, the hike of 2.3 percent will take the defense budget to 5.17 trillion yen ($51.47 billion) in the year starting April 1, for a fifth consecutive increase as Prime Minister Shinzo […]

Japan protests more Chinese ship ‘intrusions’

TOKYO, Japan (AFP) — Japan lodged a fresh diplomatic protest with China on Wednesday, accusing the country of again sending its coast guard ships into waters surrounding contested islands in the East China Sea. The two countries are locked in a long-running dispute over the uninhabited islets and tensions over them have been a frequent irritant between the countries. Tokyo has lodged at least 32 protests through diplomatic channels since August 5 over what it […]

Japan in talks to deliver two coast guard ships to Philippines

  (REUTERS) Japan and the Philippines have begun talks for the transfer of two large coast guard ships to Manila, to help patrol the disputed South China Sea, a Japanese foreign ministry official said on Friday, as part of a deal on defense equipment. The two brand-new 90-metre (295-ft) multi-role response vessels will be in addition to ten 44-metre (144-ft) mid-sized coast guard ships, worth 8.8 billion pesos ($188.52 million), that Japan is set to […]