A Chinese aircraft carrier group entered Japan’s economic waters over the weekend, before exiting to conduct drills involving fighter jets, Tokyo’s defence ministry said Monday.
The Liaoning carrier, two missile destroyers, and one fast combat supply ship sailed around 300 kilometres (190 miles) southwest of Japan’s easternmost island of Minamitori on Saturday, a ministry statement said.
It was the first time a Chinese aircraft carrier had entered that part of Japan’s exclusive economic zone (EEZ), a Japanese defence ministry spokesman told AFP.
“We think the Chinese military is trying to improve its operational capability and ability to conduct operations in distant areas,” the spokesman said.
China’s growing military clout and use of naval and air assets to press disputed territorial claims have rattled the United States and its allies in the Indo-Pacific region.
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Tokyo’s chief cabinet secretary Yoshimasa Hayashi told reporters on Monday that the government had “conveyed an appropriate message to the Chinese side” without saying it had lodged a formal protest.
After the Liaoning and its accompanying vessels exited Japan’s EEZ, fighter jets and helicopters conducted take-offs and landings on Sunday, the ministry statement said.
Japan deployed its warship Haguro to the area to monitor the situation, it added.
Last month, the Liaoning sailed between two southern Japanese islands within the EEZ, from the East China Sea into the Pacific while conducting take-offs and landings on deck, the ministry said.
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The carrier in September last year sailed between two Japanese islands near Taiwan and entered Japan’s contiguous waters, an area up to 24 nautical miles from its coast.
At the time, Tokyo called the move “unacceptable” and expressed “serious concerns” to Beijing.
Under international law, a state has rights to the management of natural resources and other economic activities within its EEZ, which is within 200 nautical miles (370 kilometres) of its coastline.
Late last month, Tokyo accused Beijing of conducting unnotified maritime scientific research within its EEZ, near the remote Pacific atoll of Okinotori.
Meanwhile, Chinese consumer prices fell for the fourth straight month in May, data showed Monday, as the world’s second biggest economy struggles with sluggish spending and global trade turmoil.
Beijing has failed to boost sluggish domestic consumption since the end of the pandemic, threatening official growth targets and complicating its ability to shield its economy from US President Donald Trump’s tariff blitz.
Representatives from the two countries are expected to meet on Monday in London for more high-stakes trade talks, being closely watched for signs of a lasting deal on reducing levies.
China’s consumer price index — a key measure of inflation — dropped 0.1 percent year on year in May, according to statistics published Monday by the National Bureau of Statistics (NBS).
The reading was unchanged from April but slightly better than the 0.2 percent fall forecast in a Bloomberg survey of economists.
While deflation suggests the cost of goods is falling, it poses a threat to the broader economy as consumers tend to postpone purchases under such conditions, hoping for further reductions.
A lack of demand can then force companies to cut production, freeze hiring or lay off workers, while potentially also having to discount existing stocks — dampening profitability even as costs remain the same.
“China continues to face persistent deflationary pressure,” Zhiwei Zhang, president and chief economist at Pinpoint Asset Management, wrote in a note, adding that Beijing “needs to rely on domestic demand to fight the deflation”.
Zhang said exports continued to perform well and support the economy, while warning that they will “probably slow as the frontloading fades out” — a reference to overseas buyers increasing shipments ahead of potentially higher tariffs.
Trade figures for last month, due to be released later on Monday, will also shed light on how the country’s exporters are performing.
Deepening a slump that has now lasted more than two years, factory gate prices also dropped in May, the NBS said Monday.
The producer price index declined 3.3 percent, accelerating from a 2.7 percent drop in April, and faster than the 3.2 percent estimated in the Bloomberg survey.
The China-US talks in London will mark the second round of formal negotiations between the world’s two largest economies since Trump launched his global trade blitz in April.
The first round of talks, held in mid-May in Geneva, saw them pause sky-high tariffs but fail to reach a comprehensive trade deal.
The latest negotiations are expected to include Chinese Vice Premier He Lifeng, US Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent, and Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick.
They were announced after a phone call last week between Trump and Chinese President Xi Jinping, which the US president described as “very good”.
Via: Agence France-Presse
