Japan Protests Chinese Live-Fire Drill Inside its EEZ
The government of Japan has expressed its displeasure with PLA Navy's decision to conduct a live fire exercise off the coast of Okinotori, a tiny island to the south of the Japanese home islands. The area is within Japan's EEZ claim zone, though the zone's validity is disputed by its neighbors.
On July 19, the Chinese PLA Navy destroyer Kaifeng (124) was operating in the Philippine Sea alongside Russian Navy corvette RFS Rezkiy, part of a larger joint exercise with Russian forces. During the day, the Luyang-III class Kaifeng carried out live fire gunnery exercises at a position about 100 nautical miles off Okinotori, which is located about halfway between Guam and Okinawa.
The Kaifeng used machine guns to fire at an inflatable target, a standard training practice for warships, and broadcast an advance notification that it would do so. The Japan Maritime Self Defence Force destroyer JS Samidare was in the area and observed the drill.
"The Japanese government lodged a protest with China through ?diplomatic channels, on the grounds that such activities could pose a danger to the navigation of nearby vessels," a Japanese government spokesperson told Reuters.
China has pushed back on Japan's statement of protest.
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"Japan's so-called 'representative efforts' are completely unreasonable, and China has firmly rejected them. . . . Okinotorishima is a rock, not an island, and therefore cannot possess an exclusive economic zone or continental shelf. Japan's claim to an exclusive economic zone based on Okinotorishima violates international law," said Chinese foreign ministry spokesperson Lin Jian at a press conference Tuesday. "Japan's smear campaign and hyping up the legitimate actions of other countries, exaggerating 'external threats,' is an attempt to find excuses for its own accelerated 'remilitarization' and its challenge to the post-war international order."
Jian alluded to Japan's recent defense reawakening: Under current Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi, its government is taking a more muscular approach to investment in its military, spending about $62 billion on defense in 2025. While still comparatively low - ranked 10th worldwide, and just 20% of China's budget - it is far higher than what Japan spent two years ago. More increases are planned for the years ahead.
