Tokyo has protested to Moscow over multinational military exercises being conducted on Russian-held islands claimed by Japan, and is seriously concerned about shooting drills by Russian and Chinese warships off Japan’s northern coast, an official said.The news came as Russia said on Tuesday it had scrapped an agreement with Japan to allow former Japanese residents visa-free visits to the Russian-held Kuril Islands, which Japan claims as its Northern Territories.
Russia has been hosting the multinational “Vostok 2022” drills at a number of locations in the country’s far east since late August. China is one of the countries taking part, as Beijing increases its military cooperation with MoscowJapanese Chief Cabinet Secretary Hirokazu Matsuno criticised Russia for holding exercises on two of the four disputed islands in the Kuril chain off Japan’s northernmost main island of Hokkaido. It was not clear whether China was part of the exercises on the disputed islands.
Matsuno said Japan’s Defence Ministry spotted six Russian and Chinese warships firing machine guns into the Sea of Japan about 190 kilometres (118 miles) west of Cape Kamui on Hokkaido on Saturday.
“Japan will continue to monitor the movements of these ships with serious concern, and will take all possible measures to conduct warning and surveillance activities in the waters surrounding Japan,” Matsuno said at a news conference on Monday.
China’s Ministry of National Defence said in a statement on Sunday that China took part in air, ground and naval exercises as part of the drills. It said a Chinese naval tactical team conducted joint exercises with Russia in the Sea of Japan, including one designed to destroy drifting mines.
Japan has raised concerns about growing tensions in Asia following Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, fearing that the war is emboldening China’s already assertive military activities in East Asia. Japan is currently revising its national security strategy and defence guidelines to significantly bolster its military capabilities to reinforce its deterrence.
After the joint firing exercise, the warships, including a Chinese guided missile destroyer, a frigate and a supply ship and three Russian frigates, crossed the Soya Strait between the Japanese islands of Honshu and Hokkaido. The Chinese warships had crossed Tsushima Strait in southwestern Japan on August 29, the ministry said.