Japan and Taiwan said Tuesday that the Chinese People’s Liberation Army (PLA) Navy dispatched the Liaoning aircraft carrier group consisting of eight vessels into the West Pacific.
Japan’s Defense Ministry said in a statement (pdf) that eight Chinese naval vessels, including an aircraft carrier, passed between islands in Japan’s southern Okinawa chain on Monday.
The Liaoning and its five-ship strike group were first spotted approximately 350 kilometers (217 miles) southwest of Nagasaki prefecture’s Danjo islands on Sunday, according to the statement. Another destroyer and a frigate joined the flotilla late Sunday and early Monday.
Among the Chinese warships spotted by Japan’s military were the Type 055 large-guided missile destroyer Nanchang, the Type 052D guided-missile destroyer Chengdu, and the Type 901 fast combat supply ship.
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