In what military analysts have described as a show of force to Japan, China's air force said it flew more than 40 bombers and other fighter jets near Japan's islands in the East China Sea as part of its military drills in the Western Pacific on Sunday.

China's People's Liberation Army Air Force (PLAAF) said Chinese pilots flew over the Miyako Strait and near Okinawa in the East China Sea on their way to the Western Pacific as part of military drills.

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The military exercise, the second this month, saw the Chinese air force fly one of its largest fleets ever near Okinawa. Analysts have said that the move was meant to intimidate Japan.

Military threat

Japan's defense ministry said this was, by far, the largest Chinese fleet to have passed the area. The defense ministry said it scrambled several fighter planes in the area after about eight Chinese planes entered Japan's airspace.

Analysts said China's military threat was meant to send a strong message to Tokyo after its new defense minister said Japan would step up its maritime presence in the disputed South China Sea through joint patrols with the US and military exercises with regional navies.

China's air force spokesman Shen Jinke said on Sunday that China's military drills in the Pacific are part of its "routine" activities in the East China Sea air defense identification zones (ADIZ) to protect China's security and sovereignty.

The US and the international community had condemned China after Beijing established an air defense identification zone (ADIZ) in the East China Sea in 2013.

Under the ADIZ, aircraft were required to identify themselves to Chinese authorities before being given the signal to proceed.

Assertiveness

The latest military drills come as China's is increasing its assertiveness in claiming territories in the East and South China Seas.

China had earlier warned Japan that it would target its ships once Tokyo begins joint patrols with the US in the disputed South China Sea.

Ties between Beijing and Tokyo have remained cold due to a territorial spat between both nations over a group of islands in the East China Sea and their painful wartime history. 

TagsChinese military drills, People's Liberation Army Air Force, Miyako Strait, okinawa, bombers, Fighter Jets, Japan, china