Japan on Monday announced that over the past two weeks to keep tabs on China's Liaoning aircraft carrier and the nation’s warships that conducted naval manoeuvres and flight operations near Japanese territory, it scrambled jet fighters and made use of aircraft and warships.

In a press release, the Japanese Ministry of Defence said that the nation monitored the operations after the Chinese naval group, which includes missile destroyers, cruised between the main island of Okinawa and Miyakojima Island on December 16, entering the Western Pacific from the East China Sea.

Before returning the same way on Sunday, the Chinese carrier conducted more than 300 take-offs and landings of fixed-wing aircraft and helicopters, added the ministry, which did not report any incursions into Japanese territorial waters or skies. However, the press release made no mention of any incursions into Japanese territorial waters or skies.

While China has conducted similar operations in the past, including one in May, the latest large-scale military drills close to Japanese islands come after Japan announced it would double defence spending over the next five years in a bid to deter China from using its military to push territorial claims in the region, including against neighbouring Taiwan.

China's latest large-scale military drills close to Japanese islands come after the traditional pacifist Japan recently announced plans to move away from its defence-only stance and expand its military, doubling defence expenditure. The move as per reports is to deter China from using its significant military to push territorial claims in the neighbourhood, including against Taiwan. Japan also claimed that it had detected flights by a Chinese WZ-7 drone close to Miyakojima on Sunday and again on Monday, the first time it has spotted the high-altitude drone in the area.

Image source: Reuters