TOKYO/TAIPEI, Sept 18 (Reuters) – A Chinese aircraft carrier entered Japan’s contiguous waters for the first time on Wednesday, Japan’s defence ministry said, the latest in a string of military manoeuvres that has ratcheted up tensions between the neighbours.
The carrier, accompanied by two destroyers, sailed between Japan’s southern Yonaguni and Iriomote islands, entering an area that extends up to 24 nautical miles from its coastline where Japan can exert some controls as defined by the United Nations.
Japan’s Deputy Chief Cabinet Secretary Hiroshi Moriya said Tokyo had conveyed its “serious concerns” to Beijing, describing the incident as “utterly unacceptable from the perspective of the security environment of Japan and the region”.