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22h ago

Japan Protests After Chinese Jets Shadow Patrol Planes During Dual Carrier Drills

Tokyo warns the repeated close approaches risk accidental collisions following China’s first simultaneous deployment of two carriers in the Pacific.

Chinese aircraft carriers CNS Liaoning, top, and CNS Shandong, bottom, conduct flight operations with J-15 fighter jets in the western Pacific Ocean in early June 2025.
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Overview

  • Chinese J-15 fighters tailed Japanese P-3C patrol aircraft for up to 80 minutes on June 7 and 8, flying as close as 45 meters and cutting 900 meters ahead of their flight path.
  • Japan’s Defense Ministry confirmed the Liaoning and Shandong operated together beyond its exclusive economic zone for the first time, conducting exercises off Iwo Jima, Minamitorishima and Okinotori.
  • Chief Cabinet Secretary Yoshimasa Hayashi conveyed Japan’s “serious concern” through diplomatic and defense channels, demanding China prevent further “abnormal approaches.”
  • Senior Capt. Wang Xuemeng of the PLA Navy described the carrier drills as routine training to test far-seas defense and joint operations under international law.
  • U.S. Ambassador George Glass denounced the maneuvers as “reckless aggression,” while China’s Foreign Ministry blamed Japanese reconnaissance flights for heightening maritime and air risks.