By Focus and AFP | 2026-07-23

TOKYO -- A Chinese destroyer July 19 conducted machine-gun fire during a joint exercise with Russia inside Japan's claimed Exclusive Economic Zone (EEZ), prompting a diplomatic protest that Beijing dismissed as "groundless."

Chinese and Russian naval forces held the live fire drill southwest of Okinotori, Japan's southernmost territory, drawing Japanese aircraft and ships to monitor the vessels, Japan's government said.

During the exercise, a Chinese naval Luyang III-class guided-missile destroyer conducted machine-gun fire about 180km southwest of the islet, according to Japan's Defense Ministry.

"We will continue to monitor with concern the behaviors by Chinese and Russian vessels in the waters around our country," Chief Cabinet Secretary Minoru Kihara, Japan's top government spokesperson, said.

The destroyer was part of a group of three Chinese vessels and one Russian frigate first spotted southwest of Okinotori before the drill. It was the first Chinese live fire exercise that Japan's Defense Ministry had detected and disclosed inside the zone, Japanese media reported.

The vessels later turned north and were tracked sailing about 220km east of Iwoto Island, the ministry said.

EEZ dispute

Tokyo protested to Beijing through diplomatic channels, warning that the drill "could have endangered the navigation of nearby ships," Kihara said.

Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesperson Lin Jian July 21 rejected the accusation as "completely groundless."

Okinotori is "a rock rather than an island" under the United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea and therefore is "unfit" to be the centerpiece of an EEZ, Lin said July 21. Tokyo maintains that its EEZ extends 370km from Okinotori.

One of the Chinese vessels notified nearby ships of the drill's location and duration shortly before the exercise, Kihara said.

The drill followed a series of Sino-Russian military activities around Japan, including bomber flights in June and a joint naval exercise in early July.

Regional tensions

The bomber flights and the live fire drill reflect growing military cooperation between Beijing and Moscow, Japanese Defense Minister Shinjiro Koizumi said.

Relations between Tokyo and Beijing have deteriorated since Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi suggested in November that Japan could intervene militarily if Taiwan came under attack.

Under Takaichi, Japan has adopted a more proactive defense posture with U.S. support. Koizumi said the security of the Indo-Pacific and the Euro-Atlantic region is "inseparable" and "interconnected and has reiterated Tokyo's push for more defense ties with "like-minded" partners in Europe and the Indo-Pacific.