A Chinese aircraft carrier entered Japan’s “contiguous waters” for the first time, which conveyed “serious concern,” Japanese officials said.
The Liaoning carrier sailed with two destroyers between the Japanese island of Yonaguni and nearby Iriomote and entered the country’s so-called “contiguous zone,” Japan’s Defense Ministry said.
In addition to the Liaoning, Chinese warships also passed through this route, the ministry announced.
“Contiguous waters” is a term of international maritime law that refers to the strip of sea immediately outside the territorial sea of a state. In these waters, the state has limited sovereign rights, such as the enforcement of customs, immigration, fiscal and sanitary laws.
Official Tokyo has conveyed to Beijing “serious concern” regarding China’s increasingly frequent military actions around Japan.
Deputy Secretary General of the Japanese government Hiroshi Moriya stated that “this incident is absolutely unacceptable from the perspective of national and regional security.”
“We will continue to closely monitor the activities of Chinese warships around Japan and the region, while ensuring information gathering,” Moriya said.
Tokyo has beefed up defenses in the country’s southwest, including remote islands considered key to Japan’s defense strategy in the region, Beta news agency writes.
