10 naval vessels belonging to China and Russia passed through a narrow chokepoint in the north of Japan, Tokyo's Defense Ministry said on Monday.
The warships sailed east toward the Pacific Ocean, likely in conjunction with Naval Interaction 2021, a joint naval exercise that the two navies are conducting this month.
This is the first time that Chinese and Russian warships have passed over Tsugaru Strait together. The strait is between Japan's northern island Honshu and the main island of Hokkaido in Japan.
The largest point of the Tsugaru Strait is 19.5 km, or 12.1 miles, but the center part of the strait is designated as international waters - a Cold War relic that allowed American vessels carrying nuclear weapons to pass through. By limiting Japan's territorial waters to just 3 nautical miles from shore, as opposed to the customary 12, this allowed U.S. ships to pass without violating Japan's Three non-Nuclear Principles, of which one prohibits the introduction of nuclear weapons on Japanese territory.
The ministry said it first identified the ships Monday morning, around 110 km southwest of Hokkaido, on the west side of Okushiri Island.
The group consisted of five Russian vessels : one Renhai class destroyer, one Luyang-III class destroyer, two Jiangkai class frigates and one Fuchi class replenishment oiler - - and five Chinese vessels that were two Udaloy class destroyers, two Steregushchiy class frigates and one Marshal Nedelin class missile-tracking ship.
The Chinese vessels were the same group that, in the Ministry, there in Japan on Oct. 11 near Tsushima Island in the South of Taijie Island was identified.
With the Strait being international waters, the passage itself does not violate international law. The Maritime Self-Defense Force with two maritime surveillance aircraft and two minesweepers monitored the passage.
The Russian Ministry of Defence posted a video of the joint exercise.