October 14 ------ Chinese ships and aircraft have probed the sea and air borders of Japan and South Korea on hundreds of occasions over the last 18 months, with analysts suggesting Beijing is testing the response times and the resolve of Washington's two most important security allies in the region.
And with China ramping up its claims on Taiwan, analysts anticipate intrusions and confrontations will increase. The South Korean government confirmed in early October that Chinese military aircraft made more than 70 unannounced entries into its air defense identification zone during 2021. Concern was also raised when a fleet of Chinese warships last year traversed the narrow Tsushima Strait — the stretch of water separating the Korean Peninsula from Japan — to carry out exercises with Russian vessels.
South Korea also operates an ocean research station close to Socotra Rock, also known as Ieodo, a submerged sea mount that is 149 kilometers (92 miles) from the Korean island of Marado, but China has repeatedly laid claim to the waters surrounding the platform, which is 287 kilometers from the nearest Chinese territory. Japan is also embroiled in disputes over sovereignty with Beijing.
Chinese coast guard ships have repeatedly intruded into Japanese territorial waters surrounding the Senkaku islands, known as Diaoyu Islands in China, a chain of five uninhabited islands in the East China Sea that Beijing insists are rightfully its territory. Japan's military has in the past detected Chinese surveillance and surveying vessels in its waters off the southern prefecture of Okinawa, as well as unidentified submarines.
Experts have suggested that the Chinese military has attempted to identify deep-water channels that will permit its submarines to sortie into the Pacific Ocean more safely in the event of a conflict breaking out.
Source: news.abs-cbn.com
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