Chinese military aircraft have been tracking Keen Sword, the large joint exercise by Japan and the United States that began on Monday, the South China Morning Post reports.
According to Japan's Joint Staff Office, a pair of People's Liberation Army drones and a surveillance aircraft passed between Japanese islands out into the Pacific on Monday and then returned towards the Chinese mainland, and Japan scrambled fighter jets in response. A separate TB-001 drone flew between Yonaguni and Taiwan, travelled north-east as far as waters off Amami Oshima, then returned through the Miyako Strait.
The biennial drills run until 29 October and involve about 45,000 members of Japan's Self-Defence Forces and 12,000 US troops, making them one of the largest the allies have held. US anti-ship missiles and Japanese long-range weapons are being deployed near Taiwan during the exercise.
Source: South China Morning Post
