CHINA-PLA: PLA NAVY AIRCRAFT CARRIER GROUP PASSES THROUGH MIYAKO STRAIT FOR FIRST TIME SINCE 2020
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The Joint Staff Office of the Japanese Defense Ministry said (April 4) that the Chinese aircraft carrier Liaoning and five escort vessels passed through a key waterway off Japan on their way to the Pacific Ocean. The carrier group was spotted around 8 a.m. on April 3 roughly 470 km southwest of Nagasaki Prefecture's Danjo Islands and it then passed through the Miyako Strait. This is the first time since April 2020 that the Liaoning has been known to pass this waterway. Accompanying the Liaoning were one Renhai class stealth guided missile destroyer, two Luyang III class guided missile destroyers, one Jiangkai II multi-role frigate and one Fuyu class fast combat support ship. Japan monitored the carrier group's passage with a destroyer JS Suzutsuki, a P-1 maritime patrol aircraft and a P-3C anti-submarine warfare patrol aircraft. The joint staff also said that a Chinese Y-9 military transport aircraft passed over the Miyako Strait on April 4, and that Japan had scrambled a jet fighter in the airspace to respond.
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