Japanese authorities scrambled about 11 Chinese military planes that flew near Japanese islands in the East China Sea last week. According to Beijing, the exercise was aiming at improving the military's long-range combat abilities.

On Friday, the fleet that flew near Miyako and Okinawa included two intelligence gathering planes, eight bombers and one early-warning aircraft. According to a statement by the Japanese defence ministry, the planes flew without violating Japan's airspace. The ministry said that while other planes made flights close to neighboring islands, some of them flew between the two islands, Channel News reported.

Like Us on Facebook

A Chinese navy spokesperson told Xinhua that different types of planes, including H-6K bombers, were involved in Friday's drill over the western Pacific.

According to South China Morning Post, Shen Jinke said such open sea activities can enhance the force's long-distance combat abilities. Japan is reportedly analyzing the purpose of the mission and has refused to comment further on it. However, Japanese newspaper Yomiuri Shimbun noted that it is unusual for China to dispatch such a large fleet close to Japan's airspace.

Hundreds of times a year, the Japanese government scrambles jets to protect its airspace. Initially, it was Russian planes that were usually caught by Japan's jet scrambling initiative. However, Chinese jets are getting caught more frequently.

As a result of a longstanding territorial row in the East China Sea and Japanese military aggression in the first half of the 20th century, there has been heightened tension between China and Japan.

The incident between China and Japan in the East China Sea comes even as the former is engaged in a territorial row with neighboring countries over the South China Sea.

China has converted sandbanks in the area into small islands that are capable of supporting military activities. The US government says the move is a threat to freedom of navigation in a space through which one-third of the world's oil passes.

TagsChinese military planes, Miyako, okinawa, Japan Scramble Chinese Planes, East China Sea Territorial Dispute