Chinese Warships Circle Japan
By:
Dzirhan Mahadzir
May 9, 2023 6:28 PM
JMSDF Photo
Chinese warships have been circling the Japanese home islands for the last week, according to the Joint Staff Office (JSO) of Japan’s Ministry of Defense.
People’s Liberation Army Navy guided-missile destroyers CNS
Guiyang (119) and CNS
Qiqihar (121) and fleet oiler CNS
Taihu (889) were seen Friday sailing northeast in an area 25 miles northwest of Rebun island, which lies 30 miles off the northwest tip off the main island of Hokkaido.
Cruiser CNS
Lhasa (102) and frigate CNS
Zaozhuang (542) were also sighted midnight Saturday sailing northeast in the same area.
All five ships then sailed through La Pérouse Strait, which separates Hokkaido from Russia’s Sakhalin Island, into the Sea of Okhotsk.
Japan Maritime Self Defense Force (JMSDF) fast attack craft JS
Wakataka (PG-825) and JMSDF P-3C Orions Maritime Patrol Aircraft (MPA) of Fleet Air Wing 2, based at JMSDF Hachinohe Air Base monitored the PLAN ships. The PLAN ships previously transited northeast through the Tsushima Strait on April 30.
PLAN Dongdia-class intelligence ship
Kaiyangxing (796) is circling around the Honshu island, the JSO said Friday. The PLAN ship was sighted sailing northeast in an area 18 miles southwest of Cape Tappi, Honshu.
Kaiyangxing then sailed through the Tsugaru Strait which separates the Japanese main island of Honshu and Hokkaido.
The PLAN ship was monitored by minesweeper JS
Aoshima (MSC-689) and a JMSDF P-3C Orion of Fleet Air Wing 2.
On Monday, the PLAN ship was sighted sailing southwest in an area 37 miles southeast of Sumisu Island, part of the Izu Island chain which lies south of Japan’s capital of Tokyo.
Kaiyangxing subsequently sailed between Sumisu Island and the island of Tori-Shima while a P-1 MPA of Fleet Air Wing 4, based at Naval Air Facility Atsugi, monitored the PLAN ship. The releases noted that
Kaiyangxing had transited northeast through the Tsushima Strait on April 29.
On May 3rd, PLAN destroyer CNS
Baotou (133) and frigate CNS
Xuzhou (530) sailed southwest in an area 50 miles northwest of Uotsuri Island, part of the disputed Senkaku Islands administered by Japan and claimed by both China and Taiwan.
JMSDF Photo
The PLAN ships then sailed south through an area 50 miles west of Uotsuri and continued sailing south between Yonaguni Island and Taiwan.
On Monday, the two PLAN ships transited westward through the Osumi Strait, which lies south of the main island of Kyushu to enter the East China Sea.
The PLAN ships were shadowed by destroyer JS
Sawagiri (DD-157), fleet oiler JS
Hamana (AOE-424), a JMSDF P-1 MPA of Fleet Air Wing 4 and a JMSDF P-3C Orion MPA of Fleet Air Wing 4, based at Naha Air Base, Okinawa.
Chinese warships have been circling the Japanese home islands for the last week, according to the Joint Staff Office (JSO) of Japan’s Ministry of Defense. People’s Liberation Army Navy guided-missile destroyers CNS Guiyang (119) and CNS Qiqihar (121) and fleet oiler CNS Taihu (889) were seen...
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