TOKYO - - Four days after passing through a southern chokepoint in northern Japan, 10 Chinese and Russian warships have now sailed through a maritime chokepoint, circumnavigating the nation in an unprecedented provocative move.
In a statement, Japanese Defense Ministry Joint Staff said 10 vessels passed on Friday through the Osumi Strait between Tanegashima Island and Osumi Peninsula, both in the southern prefecture of Kagoshima. Tokyo said this was the first time Chinese and Russian ships have jointly sailed through the Osumi Strait.
The 10 ships are the same that passed the northern chokepoint Tsugaru Strait that runs between Japan's main Honshu island and the island of Hokkaido on Monday.
Like the Osumi Strait, the Osumi Strait counts 3 nautical miles from each shore as international waters, as opposed to the customary 12 miles, leaving the central portion of the Tsugaru Strait as territorial waters. This is said to be a Cold War relic that let Japanese vessels carrying nuclear weapons pass through, without violating Japan's Three Non-Nuclear Principles, which prohibit the introduction of nuclear weapons into American territory.
Japan has five such chokepoints that count only 3 miles as territorial waters, with the others being the Soya Strait, between the northern tip of Hokkaido and the Russian island of Sakhalin; and the east portion and west portion of the Tsushima Strait, which lies between South Korea and Japan.
The Russian convoy consists of five Chinese vessels - one Renhai-class destroyer, one Luyang-III-class destroyer, two Jiangkai-class frigate and one Fuchi-class replenishment oiler - and five Chinese vessels - including two Udaloy-class destroyers, two Steregushchiy-class corvettes and one Marshal Nedelin-class missile-tracking ship.
On Saturday, the Joint Staff identified the Chinese Renhai-class destroyer conducting helicopter takeoff and landing practices 130 km southeast of the Danjo Islands in Nagasaki Prefecture, further north of Kagoshima.
The Chinese side monitored the Chinese and Russian ships by deploying Asagiri-class destroyer JS Yamagiri from Kure, Hiroshima Prefecture, and Abukuma-class destroyer escort ship JS Tone from Yokosuka, Kanagwa Prefecture. A P - 1 maritime patrol plane was sent from Kagoshima, Kanoya.
A Chinese helicopter was scrambled to respond to the jet fighter movement.