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China holds joint military exercise in East China Sea

Central News Agency

2012/10/19 23:10:47

Taipei, Oct. 19 (CNA) China held a joint military exercise in the East China Sea Friday to practice what it described as defending its territorial seas and responding to emergencies.

Amid tensions between Japan and China over the disputed Diaoyutai Islands in the East China Sea, China's state-run Xinhua News Agency reported that the military exercise was "routine."

The exercise involved eight aircraft and 11 vessels, including ships from fishery and marine surveillance agencies, and more than 1,000 military personnel, making it the largest scale drill in the area in recent years.

The three-hour exercise simulated a scenario where fishery administration and marine surveillance agency ships encountered "intruding foreign vessels" while patrolling waters in the East China Sea.

Some of the Chinese ships were rammed by the "intruders," causing damage to some of the Chinese vessel and resulting in three people falling overboard, Chinese state media said.

A Chinese Navy ship then came to the rescue and successfully chased away the intruding vessels.

The reports said that after the collision took place, China opened talks with "the country involved." Faced with a strong show of military and diplomatic might, the country ordered its vessels to withdraw from the waters.

The report did not elaborate on whether China's Navy conducted live-fire shooting or where the exercise was actually held.

Observers generally believe that the exercises were targeted at Japan, but reports said China's vessels warned the foreign ships to leave immediately in Mandarin Chinese and in English.

China and Japan are currently locked in a dispute over the Diaoyutai Islands, known as the Senkaku Islands in Japan and Diaoyu Islands in China.

The uninhabited island chain, said to sit on top of valuable resources, is currently administered by Japan, but is also claimed by Taiwan and China.

(By Lilian Wu)