Beijing holds massive naval maneuver in East China Sea
The Chinese navy has launched a massive “live ammunition” drill in the East China Sea, which has been the subject of a longtime maritime dispute between Beijing and Tokyo.
According to Chinese media, hundreds of ships and submarines from all three fleets of the army took part in the drill on Monday.
“The drill is aimed at honing the assault intensity, precision, stability and speed of troops amid heavy electromagnetic influences,” said a navy statement.
“An information technology-based war at sea is sudden, cruel and short, which requires a fast transition to combat status, quick preparation and high assault efficiency,” the statement added.
The military exercise, which practiced both offensive and defensive skills of China’s naval power, involved naval aviation forces, scores of fighter planes as well as the troops in charge of coastal defense radars, communications and electronic warfare defense.
Beijing is locked in a territorial row with Japan on an uninhabited yet strategically-important island group in the East China Sea. Ties between two sides deteriorated after Tokyo nationalized part of the resource-rich islands in 2012.
In its annual defense review released on Tuesday, Japan claimed that China’s activities in the East China Sea caused Tokyo to scramble warplanes to the area more than 570 times last year.
Beijing’s drill comes amid tensions in the region after a Hague-based court of arbitration ruled that China’s claims to sovereignty over the disputed areas in the South China Sea or its resources “had no legal basis.”
The case had been filed by the Philippines, whose economic and sovereign rights, according to the court, have been violated by Beijing. China has dismissed the ruling, saying it does not recognize the tribunal’s arbitration in the dispute.
Japan has urged China to respect the ruling by the Permanent Court of Arbitration.
Beijing claims almost all of the South China Sea, which is also claimed in part by Taiwan, Brunei, Vietnam, Malaysia and the Philippines. The contested waters are rich in oil and gas.
On July 28, the Chinese Defense Ministry spokesman said China and Russia will conduct a joint naval drill in the South China Sea in September, noting the exercise is “routine” and “does not target any third party.”
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