The Integrated Staff and Supervision Department of the Ministry of Defense of Japan announced on June 30 that two Chinese navy guided missile destroyers and a supply ship sailed from the waters between the main island of Okinawa and Miyakojima from June 29 to 30. Go north and enter and East China Sea . This means that this Chinese naval ship formation , which has attracted much attention from Japan, has completed the mission of circling the Japanese archipelago, which took about 20 days.
What Japan is most worried about now is whether "circuiting Japan" will become a normalized action of the Chinese navy in the future?
According to a notification from the Ministry of Defense, the intelligence collection ship (hull number 794), the Type 055 guided missile destroyer Lhasa (hull number 102), the Type 052D guided missile destroyer Chengdu (hull number 120) and the comprehensive supply ship Dongpinghu ship ( The Chinese naval ship formation composed of hull number 902) passed through the Tsushima Strait from the 12th to the 13th and began to sail around the Japanese archipelago.
It is worth mentioning that this is the first long-sea patrol mission after the 0.55 million-ton large-scale destroyer Lhasa entered service. The "first battle" was given such an important mission, which is enough to prove the Chinese Navy's performance of this advanced destroyer full trust.
055 guided missile destroyer Lhasa ship
052D guided missile destroyer Chengdu ship
Comprehensive supply ship Dongpinghu ship
Since then, the Chinese naval ship formation has been divided into two. From the 16th to the 17th, two Chinese destroyers passed through the Soya Strait between Hokkaido and Sakhalin and entered the northwest Pacific eastward. The supply ship and intelligence collection ship passed through the Tsugaru Strait. Eastward into the Western Pacific.
The two destroyers and the supply ship rejoined shortly after and continued to move southwest about 220 kilometers southeast of Inubosaki, Chiba Prefecture on the 20th. The Ministry of Defense once believed that the formation would soon sail westward into the East China Sea to complete the operation around Japan as soon as possible.
Schematic diagram of the track of the Chinese naval formation around Japan
However, to the surprise of Japan, three Chinese naval ships passed the Izu Islands on the 21st, and after traveling westward, they passed by Okinawa main island and Miyako Island. Between the two countries, Yonaguni Island and Taiwan, many other Chinese naval ships were found sailing back and forth between the north and the south. Japan's Kyodo News Agency stated on June 30 that it is very likely that these Chinese naval ships conducted joint exercises with the Lhasa ship and three other ships that were orbiting the Japanese archipelago.
According to reports, the southeastern waters of the Japanese archipelago have always been regarded as "forbidden" by Japan. The coastal areas here are dotted with a series of Japan's most important industrial towns. Therefore, when the Chinese and Russian navies jointly cruised through the waters last year, the Japanese media exclaimed that "Japan's most vulnerable soft belly was exposed to the Chinese and Russian navies for the first time." What Japan did not expect was that less than a year later, a Chinese naval formation passed through the sea area again, stayed here and conducted large-scale exercises.
It was not until around 11 pm on the 29th that Japan confirmed that the Lhasa and three other ships were sailing northwest about 130 kilometers northeast of Miyako Island, and then headed to the East China Sea, completing the feat of circumnavigating the Japanese archipelago.
Kyodo News Agency stated that the Ministry of Defense is still analyzing China's intentions and "pays attention to whether the same activities will be carried out in the future." Japanese Defense Minister Nobuo Kishi said more worriedly that this "is to demonstrate the military presence and can also be considered as a threat to our country (Japan)." ) demonstrations”.
The Russian Navy fleet also completed a voyage around Japan in June
What worries Japan even more is that the Russian Navy's Pacific Fleet ships also sailed south along the Pacific side in June and circumnavigated the Japanese archipelago via Okinawa. "The Japanese side is paying close attention to whether the naval actions of China and Russia are related."
However, although Japan behaved very "aggrieved", the outside world generally believed that "the Chinese and Russian navies bypassed Japan" was entirely caused by Japan. The U.S. "Power" website bluntly stated that after the Russia-Ukraine conflict broke out, Japan not only provided military assistance to Ukraine , but also joined the ranks of the West in imposing a series of severe sanctions against Russia. In terms of Sino-Japanese relations, Tokyo's remarks that it is increasingly leaning toward armed intervention in Taiwan Strait affairs have aggravated regional tensions.
