(July 21): A Chinese destroyer conducted a machine gun test around 180km southwest of a Japanese island in the Pacific Ocean, Tokyo’s Defense Ministry said, a rare live-fire exercise by the Chinese navy while inside the exclusive economic zone (EEZ) of Japanese territory.

Two Chinese destroyers were observed sailing with a Russian frigate and a Chinese supply ship approximately 330km southwest of the island of Okinotorishima at around 2am Japanese time on Sunday, according to a statement from the Defense Ministry.

One of the Chinese destroyers was later seen to fire from a machine gun around 180km southwest of the Japanese island, according to the statement.

The ministry said it was the first time that it had announced a live-fire exercise by a foreign navy in Japan’s EEZ.

“The government lodged a protest with China through diplomatic channels, on the grounds that such activity could pose a danger to the navigation of vessels in the surrounding waters,” Japan’s top government spokesman, Minoru Kihara, said at a regular press conference on Tuesday.

A Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesman rejected Japan’s concern, denying that Tokyo has a right to claim an EEZ around Okinotorishima because it is a small maritime feature that is mostly submerged at high tide.

“Japan’s claim of an EEZ around Okinotorishima violates international law,” Lin Jian said at a regular press conference. “China’s activities in the high seas are fully consistent with international law and international practice,” he said.

Ahead of the exercise, the crew of the Chinese destroyer notified nearby vessels about the exercise and its duration ahead of time, Kihara said.

The Chinese navy has become more active around Japan in recent years, often operating alongside Russian military vessels. 

“We view this latest joint transit as part of the broader trend toward closer military coordination between the two countries,” Kihara said.

The United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea doesn’t ban naval exercises inside the EEZ of foreign nations, but some countries view such activity as more problematic than others. An EEZ, which extends 200 nautical miles (370km) in the waters around a nation’s land, grants a nation exclusive rights to explore and exploit natural resources in the area.

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