Japan’s Defense Ministry says the Air Self-Defense Force scrambled jets on Thursday as Chinese military aircraft flew between islands in the country’s south for a second day in a row.
Ministry officials say the Chinese military flew a drone and two manned aircraft over waters between Okinawa’s main island and Miyako Island. The manned aircraft were a reconnaissance plane and a patrol plane.
The three aircraft turned around over the Pacific Ocean south of Okinawa and headed back to the East China Sea. None of the aircraft entered Japanese airspace.
The incident comes two days after Japan’s Self-Defense Forces held a joint exercise with a carrier strike group led by the British aircraft carrier HMS Queen Elizabeth in waters south of Okinawa.
Sources close to the ministry say the vessels that took part in the drills were still in the area on Thursday, when the Chinese aircraft made their sortie.
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