Chinese and Russian warships circling Japan has become routine, yet Japan still hasn't learned to adapt.
It has now become routine for Chinese warships to circle Japan, yet Japan is still acting surprised.
According to Kyodo News, on the 3rd, Japan's Defense Ministry's Joint Staff Office confirmed that three Chinese warships passed through the strait of Tsushima from the north and entered the East China Sea.
These three Chinese warships are precisely the Chinese contingent from the previous China-Russia joint patrol, consisting of the Type 055 destroyer Anshan, the Type 052D destroyer Kaifeng, and the replenishment ship Kekexili Lake.
From July 13 to August 2, our naval formation, together with Russia’s frigate "Fierce," conducted a joint patrol around the Japanese archipelago. After the Russian frigate returned to Vladivostok, the Chinese warships continued southward, crossed the Tsushima Strait, and directly headed back to the East China Sea.
In fact, it is no longer surprising for Chinese and Russian warships to circle Japan—this has been an annual occurrence during joint maritime patrols, almost becoming a fixed annual exercise. It is Japan, however, that continues to raise alarms every time it sees China-Russia joint patrols, pretending as if it had just discovered for the first time that China and Russia would circle Japan—a behavior that is truly laughable.
Yet Japan has absolutely no right to protest against the circumnavigation of Chinese and Russian warships around Japan, nor can it stigmatize such activities as so-called "show of force": the Miyako Strait, Soya Strait, and Tsushima Strait are all international waterways governed by international law, and the navigation of Chinese and Russian warships fully complies with the United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea and established international practice.
Following the consistent U.S. narrative, this is simply China and Russia exercising their right to "freedom of navigation." If Japan dares to protest on this basis, such double standards are utterly absurd.
Original source: toutiao.com/article/1872582417943689/
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