TOKYO: A Chinese carrier strike group sailing close to Japan kept up intense air operations on Sunday as it sailed into the Pacific Ocean east of the Okinawa Islands, Japan’s Self-Defense Forces said Monday.
The naval drills came amid growing tension between the East Asian neighbors and triggered a flurry of protests, with Tokyo accusing Beijing on Sunday of dangerous behavior. Japan said fighters from the Liaoning aircraft carrier aimed radar beams at Japanese jets scrambled to shadow its movements.
Illuminating an aircraft with a radar beam signals a potential attack that may force targeted planes to take evasive action.
Aircraft aboard the carrier conducted around 100 takeoffs and landings over the weekend, Japan’s SDF said.
Japan on Sunday summoned China’s ambassador, Wu Jianghao, to protest “dangerous” and “regrettable” acts by the carrier’s planes.
Japan will “respond calmly but firmly and continue to monitor the movements of Chinese forces in the waters around our country,” Chief Cabinet Secretary Minoru Kihara said at a regular press briefing on Monday.
The Chinese embassy in a statement denied Tokyo’s claims, saying that Japanese aircraft had endangered flight safety by approaching the carrier as it conducted training with its three missile-destroyer escorts.
“China solemnly demands that Japan stop smearing and slandering, strictly restrain its frontline actions, and prevent similar incidents from happening again,” it said.
Kihara rejected the claim that Japan’s aircraft endangered flight safety on the carrier.
The encounters marked the most serious run-ins between the two militaries in years and risk worsening relations already strained after Japan’s Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi warned that Tokyo could respond to any Chinese action against Taiwan that threatened Japan’s security.
Chinese carrier conducting intense air operations near Japan, Tokyo says
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Chinese carrier conducting intense air operations near Japan, Tokyo says
- Japan on Sunday summoned China’s ambassador to protest “dangerous” and “regrettable” acts by the carrier’s planes
- The Chinese embassy responded that Japanese aircraft had endangered flight safety by approaching the carrier
Protests across globe mark one week of Iran war
- In Washington DC, demonstrators gathered at the National Mall carrying US, Israeli and Iranian flags, with some protesters painting the colors of the Iranian flags on their cheeks
- Several counter-protesters carried signs denouncing Israel and in support of the Palestinians
PARIS, France: Lion-emblazoned flags of pre-revolution Iran fluttered in cities across the world on Saturday as demonstrators took to the streets a week after the start of the war in the Middle East.
Europe, Africa and the Americas saw demonstrations, with some protesting against Iran’s Islamic regime, others railing against the war, and some in support of Iran’s late supreme leader Ali Khamenei, who was killed in the first US-Israeli strikes of the conflict.
Paris saw two demonstrations: one supporting the US-based Reza Pahlavi, the son of the late shah, to head up a transition, and another denouncing that scenario.
“I support Pahlavi who is calling for a revolution,” Masoud Ghanaatian, 35, a student, told AFP at a protest in southern Paris, where participants carried photos of the late shah’s son and waved US, Israeli and pre-revolution Iran flags.
“He’s a democrat. He can oversee a transition and promises to organize elections.”
Hundreds of pro-Pahlavi demonstrations also gathered in Stockholm, holding up pictures of him and his late father.
But farther north, protesters wearing yellow vests reading “Free Iran” showed off stickers on their hands that read “No Shah, no Mullah.”
In Amsterdam protesters snaked along one of the city’s canals, holding up Israeli, American and pre-revolution Iran flags, as they called on the government to invite Pahlavi to the country and to close the Iranian embassy.
In Israel, anti-war activists and police scuffled during a protest against eh war in HaBima Square in Tel Aviv.
Shortly after dawn in Britain, anti-war protesters gathered at the entrance of an air force base in Fairford, southwest of England, holding signs reading “Hands off Iran,” “Peace” and “Yanks go home.”
- ‘Assassins’ -
A demonstrations against the war also took place in Cyprus.
Outside the US consulate in Mexico City, protesters carried a placard with pictures of US President Donald Trump and Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu with blood-soaked palms over the word “Assassins” and kicked pinatas with images of the two leaders.
In the United States, protesters carried Iranian, Lebanese and Palestinian flags and signs “Iran is not our enemy” and “No war on Iran” in downtown Detroit, Michigan.
In Washington DC, demonstrators gathered at the National Mall carrying US, Israeli and Iranian flags, with some protesters painting the colors of the Iranian flags on their cheeks.
In Boston, Iranian Americans gathered at Copley Square to call for the fall of the Islamic republic.
In South Africa — which has dragged Israel to International Court of Justice, accusing it of genocide during the Gaza war, a charge Israel denies — dozens gathered in front of the US consulate in Johannesburg, holding up photos of Khamenei, the Islamic republic’s flag and signs bashing Israel.
Protesters carried pictures of Khamenei and denounced the war in central Tunis in Tunisia.
In Cape Town, Iranian pro-democracy activists and supporters of Israel waved Israeli flags and chanted slogans in the Albert Waterfront shopping mall.
Several counter-protesters carried signs denouncing Israel and in support of the Palestinians.
