China's Liaoning aircraft carrier on Tuesday kicked off training that will include live-fire drills in the western Pacific, a move poised to draw attention from Japan amid tense bilateral ties.
The Liaoning-led carrier task group's training will include far-sea tactical flight, live-fire exercises, and providing support and cover, according to state broadcaster CCTV.
The Chinese navy did not specify the exact location of this week's training, but said they were routine exercises in line with the military's annual plan to test and improve combat abilities.
It also did not say how long the exercises would run, but a drill carried out by the Liaoning last May took about a month.
In December, Chinese military training in the western Pacific - an area that stretches from the eastern coast of Asia to the western shores of Oceania - led to a stand-off between Chinese warplanes and Japanese fighter jets that approached to monitor the activity.
The Liaoning-led group was carrying out flight training of carrier-based aircraft east of the Miyako Strait. China said it had notified Japan of the exercise, but Tokyo complained about the lack of detail in the notice.
Japan said that Chinese J-15 fighters locked fire-control radar - used to direct weapons towards a target - on Japanese F-15 jets in international airspace near Okinawa.
Meanwhile, China blamed the presence of Japanese fighters in the Liaoning's training area for causing the dangerous incident.
During another training exercise in June, the Liaoning travelled east of Guam, marking the first time a Chinese carrier has sailed beyond the second island chain - a strategic maritime perimeter for the US and its allies to contain Beijing.
That training was conducted with the Shandong, another Chinese aircraft carrier, in the western Pacific. The Shandong strike group was spotted around 480 kilometres from Japanese islands, while the Liaoning group headed east of Guam, a US territory that hosts major military installations.
The Liaoning, Beijing's first aircraft carrier, was commissioned in 2012 and uses a ski-jump take-off system. The ship has taken part in several past drills, including one near Taiwan in October 2024, when it launched fighter jets towards Taiwan from the east.
China and Russia have increased joint air patrols around Japanese airspace. Chinese and Russian naval fleets have also been seen passing through key waterways around Japan.
In its latest defence white paper released earlier this month, Japan raised concerns over China's expanding military activity near its territory - including joint air patrols with Russia over waters stretching from the East China Sea to the western Pacific.
Tensions between Beijing and Tokyo have grown since Japanese Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi's controversial remarks on Taiwan in November, when she told the Japanese parliament that a crisis in the Taiwan Strait could justify military intervention. Beijing said the comments crossed a red line.
Beijing sees Taiwan as part of China and has not ruled out the use of force to reunify it with the mainland. Japan, like most countries, does not recognise the island as independent but opposes any attempt to take it by force.
