China is trying to test the defences of the US and its allies with more military activity near Japan as it looks for a way through the “first island chain”, according to analysts.
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Tokyo has reported an increase in Chinese military manoeuvring near Japan in the past few months, most recently on Saturday when the Japanese foreign ministry said a Chinese naval survey vessel entered the Tokara Strait off southern Japan that morning.
Japan said the vessel entered its territorial waters while China said the strait was for international navigation.
The previous Monday, a Chinese Y-9 reconnaissance plane flew over the Danjo Islands west of Japan’s southern island of Kyushu for around two minutes.
Japan’s southern archipelago is part of the first island chain, a series of islands off East Asia controlled by US allies and used to project military influence – influence that China is seeking to resist.