A total of six Chinese warships, including the aircraft carrier Liaoning and a Renhai-class guided-missile destroyer, passed through a sea area between Okinawa Island and Miyako Island of Okinawa Prefecture on Monday, deploying from the Pacific Ocean to the East China Sea, the Defense Ministry announced Tuesday.
The fleet including the aircraft carrier and the latest type of destroyer did not intrude into Japanese territorial waters.
According to the ministry, a Maritime Defense Force vessel spotted the six warships sailing to the north in a sea area about 160 kilometers south of Miyako Island at around 7 p.m. Monday.
While the MSDF vessel continued to watch them, a Z-18 early warning helicopter took off from the Liaoning on Tuesday morning. The MSDF vessel confirmed that the helicopter flew in an air zone about 50 to 100 kilometers northeast of the Senkaku Islands in Okinawa Prefecture.
It was the first time that the ministry made public an instance of a helicopter taking off from the Liaoning.
Earlier in the month, the six warships had passed through the sea area between the two Japanese islands from April 3 to 4 and then deployed in the Pacific Ocean.
It was the seventh time that a Chinese aircraft carrier sailed in the sea areas between the two islands.
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