BEIJING: China dispatched naval vessels, aircraft and helicopters to the East
China Sea on Friday, flexing its muscles in exercises likely to further stoke a
bristling territorial dispute with Japan.
A fleet of 11 vessels, including
some warships, along with eight aircraft were sent to waters off its east
coast, China said, in Beijing's most confrontational act yet in a row that has
chilled ties between the regional heavyweights.
The one-day exercises were
announced late Thursday in a dispatch by the official Xinhua news agency that
China's defence ministry also posted on its website.
"The primary aim (of the
exercises) is to strengthen the capacity to safeguard territorial sovereignty
and maritime interests," Shen Hao, a rear admiral in China's navy said,
according to the website of state-run China Radio International.
"They will test the
emergency-response capabilities of navy vessels, and ensure that maritime law
enforcement remains strong."
State-run China Central
Television (CCTV) showed images of several warships and helicopters carrying
out manoeuvres.
It was unclear where in the East
China Sea the exercises were taking place. The sea is home to tiny islets known
as the Diaoyus in China and the Senkakus in Japan, which are administered by
Tokyo but claimed by Beijing.
Tensions in the long-running
territorial dispute have soared since the Japanese government's move last month
to formally nationalise the islands, which triggered anti-Japan protests across
China and hit the sales of Japanese-manufactured products.
China has since then taken a
number of steps seen as snubbing Tokyo, including refusing to send top
officials to a global economic conference in Japan this month.
China has previously sent
maritime surveillance ships and fisheries patrol vessels to waters near the
islands as the row has escalated.
On Wednesday, a Chinese naval
flotilla passed near separate islands that are internationally recognised as
Japanese.
On Sunday, Japan's navy marked
its 60th anniversary with a major exercise involving about 40 ships in waters
south of Tokyo.
The navy's most modern vessels -
including destroyers and conventionally powered submarines - along with 30
naval aircraft participated in the event.
China's exercise on Friday
included vessels from the marine surveillance agency and fishery
administration, according to the Chinese reports, which did not give a detailed
breakdown on the vessels.
Japanese Chief Cabinet Secretary
Osamu Fujimura told reporters that Tokyo had few details on the drills.
"We decline to comment on
the drill, but we will continue monitoring various Chinese moves," he
said.
Chinese citizens staged massive
demonstrations across the country last month, forcing some Japanese firms to
suspend or reduce operations, and a number of official and cultural events held
in both China and Japan have been aborted.
Reports this week said Japan and
the United States were considering holding a joint military drill to simulate
retaking a remote island from foreign forces.
The exercise, part of broader
joint exercises to start in early November, would use an uninhabited island in
Okinawa, Japanese media reports said, quoting unidentified sources.
- AFP/fl
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