People's Liberation Army warships transited sensitive international waterways off southwestern Japan twice this week, a rare move seen as a warning to Tokyo over its recent Taiwan-related actions. The transits marked the start and end of western Pacific exercises, outbound through the Yokoate Channel on Sunday and returning via the Yonaguni-Iriomote Waterway on Wednesday. The Eastern Theatre Command said it tested troops' long-range operational capabilities.
PLA warships transited sensitive international waterways off southwestern Japan twice this week, outbound through the Yokoate Channel on Sunday and back via the Yonaguni-Iriomote Waterway on Wednesday. The passages marked the start and end of training exercises in the western Pacific.
In a Wednesday statement, the Eastern Theatre Command of the People’s Liberation Army said: “[We] have organised the 133rd Fleet to complete training exercises in the western Pacific, returning via the Yonaguni-Iriomote Waterway, effectively testing the troops’ long-range operational capabilities.”
The waterway lies between Iriomote Island and Yonaguni, Japan’s westernmost island just 110km (68 miles) from Taiwan. This is the first publicly recorded instance of PLA warships operating there.
Song Zhongping, a military analyst and former PLA instructor, viewed the transits as a “warning to Japan” and a “direct deterrent” to Japanese military bases along the coast over Tokyo’s recent actions relating to Taiwan.
