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
US ‘totally stupid’ to attack Iran during talks: UN ambassador
- “War was not our option. War was imposed on Iran,” Bahreini told UN correspondents
- “Nobody should expect Iran to show restraint in front of aggression”
GENEVA: The United States made a “totally stupid decision” to attack Iran while in negotiations, and betrayed Gulf nations by trashing their diplomatic efforts, Tehran’s UN ambassador said Tuesday.
Ali Bahreini, Iran’s ambassador in Geneva, insisted Tehran had no problem with its neighbors, but could not let US bases in the Gulf be used as launchpads for attacks on Iran.
“War was not our option. War was imposed on Iran,” Bahreini told UN correspondents.
“Nobody should expect Iran to show restraint in front of aggression.
“We will continue our defense until the point that this aggression is stopped,” he said.
On February 26, Washington and Tehran held indirect negotiations in Geneva on Iran’s nuclear program — with the Omani mediators reporting “significant progress.”
Bahreini was present for part of those talks and said “everybody was optimistic” and the US team “agreed to continue negotiations” in Vienna this week.
But Bahreini said Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu had convinced US President Donald Trump to destroy diplomacy and attack Iran, with strikes starting on Saturday.
“It was a totally stupid decision. They will know in the future how stupid this decision has been. Both of them will understand, because Iran will firmly determine the situation and the destiny of this war,” he said.
“All our neighbors are now disappointed with the betrayal of the United States because everybody was working for diplomacy, particularly Oman.
“The US betrayed everybody.”
- ‘Not a regional war’ -
Tehran has launched strikes against countries in the region that host US bases.
“I cannot accept labelling what we are doing as reprisal. What we are doing is a kind of self-defense,” said Bahreini.
The ambassador said Iran’s problem was not with its neighbors, describing the Gulf countries as friends.
“We are in daily dialogue with our neighbors to convey to them the message that this war is not a war against our neighbors.
“This is not a regional war.
“But we cannot ignore the fact that the US bases in their lands are operational against us.
“In no way we can allow those bases to be used to make military operations against Iran.”
He said Iran’s operations were “exclusively” against US military targets, and said “there has been very serious order given to our military forces not to make any harm to civilians.”
Trump claimed Tuesday that the Iranian leadership “want to talk” but Bahreini insisted no approach had been made to Washington, saying “there hasn’t been any contact from our side” since the war erupted.
