On Tuesday morning (July 22), a Chinese Communist intelligence collection ship was sailing between two southwestern islands of Japan, prompting Japan to dispatch a warship for surveillance.
Although the Chinese Communist intelligence ship was operating in international waters, it was close to the strategic area of Okinawa Prefecture, where there are dozens of American military facilities. At this time, there are ongoing disputes and tensions between China and Japan over a series of issues, including territorial disputes over the nearby Senkaku Islands (known as Diaoyu Islands in China), Chinese military expansion, and provocations and threats towards neighboring Taiwan.
The Japanese Ministry of Defense stated that they confirmed a Dongdiao-class electronic reconnaissance ship, the “Tianlangxing” (天狼星) No. on Tuesday morning around 6 am, sailing westward about 80 nautical miles west of Miyako Island in the Yaeyama Islands of Okinawa Prefecture. It was reported that the ship then sailed in a northwesterly direction, passing through the Miyako Strait (a strategic passage between Miyako Island and Okinawa Island) and heading towards the East China Sea.
In response, the Japan Maritime Self-Defense Force dispatched the “Kirishima” (霧島) escort ship to the area to gather relevant information on the Chinese Communist ship.
The last known presence of the “Tianlangxing” was on June 10 in waters near Japan. That day, it entered the Philippine Sea via the Osumi Strait near Kyushu, Japan’s southernmost main island.
On Tuesday, the Ministry of Defense reported in two press releases that unidentified unmanned aerial vehicles were detected flying in the waters off the east coast of Taiwan.
The day before, a Chinese PLA Air Force Y-9 aircraft was observed flying over the East China Sea through the Miyako Strait. At the same time, an unidentified drone suspected to be Chinese was tracked flying from south to north off the east coast of Taiwan.
In each of the mentioned cases, Japan urgently scrambled fighter jets to monitor these foreign aircraft.
The series of military activities by China around Japan has raised concerns within Japan.
The Japanese government submitted the annual Defense White Paper last week, highlighting the increasing frequency of activities by the Chinese Navy near the “First Island Chain” and beyond, causing deep worries for Japan.
According to the White Paper, the number of Chinese military vessels sailing between the islands of Okinawa Prefecture has particularly increased, tripling from 2021 to 2024.
China’s military ambitions have also prompted Japan to strengthen its ties with the United States and other regional allies, and to advance the goal of raising defense spending to 2% of Japan’s GDP by 2027.