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Japan Suspects Chinese Flattops Conducted Drills against U.S.

Japan Suspects Chinese Flattops Conducted Drills against U.S.

The Chinese aircraft carrier Liaoning (Courtesy of the Joint Staff of the Defense Ministry)
The Chinese aircraft carrier Liaoning (Courtesy of the Joint Staff of the Defense Ministry)

   Tokyo, June 16 (Jiji Press)--Japan's Defense Ministry suspects that Chinese aircraft carriers recently found operating in the Pacific may have conducted drills for countering U.S. forces in the event of a Taiwan contingency.
   The ministry last week announced for the first time that it had spotted two Chinese aircraft carriers operating simultaneously in Pacific waters near Japan.
   The vessels sailed within Japan's exclusive economic zone near remote islands that are part of the Ogasawara chain. In addition, there were incidents in which a Chinese fighter jet based on one of the flattops flew dangerously close to a Maritime Self-Defense Force plane.
   The ministry is analyzing China's intentions behind these operations, sources said.
   Of the Chinese aircraft carriers, the Liaoning crossed for the first time the so-called second island chain, which links the Ogasawara Islands and the U.S. territory of Guam, sailing within the EEZ around Minamitorishima on June 7.

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AFP-JIJI PRESS NEWS JOURNAL


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