Chinese Warships Circle Japan Ahead of G-7 Summit

A People’s Liberation Army Navy surface action group is continuing its circumnavigation of Japan ahead of the annual G-7 summit later this month in Hiroshima.

The surface action group – which includes cruiser CNS Lhasa (102), destroyer CNS Guiyang (119), frigate CNS Zaozhuang (542) and fleet oiler CNS Taihu (889) – was sighted at midnight on Thursday sailing southwest in an area 56 miles east of Sumisu Island, part of the Izu Island chain that lies south of Japan’s capital of Tokyo. The SAG then sailed west between Sumisu Island and the island of Tori-Shima, according to the Joint Staff Office of Japan’s Ministry of Defense. The group previously transited northeast through the Tsushima Strait on April 30 and northeast through La Pérouse Strait, which separates Hokkaido from Russia’s Sakhalin Island, on May 6. Japan Maritime Self-Defense Force destroyer JS Suzunami (DD-114) shadowed the PLAN ships, according to the release.

Destroyer CNS Qiqihar (121) had been part of the PLAN group when it transited Tsushima Strait and subsequently La Pérouse Strait, but the JSO did not mention the ship’s current location in its Thursday news release. Qiqihar was sighted sailing southwest on Friday at 9 p.m. local time in an area 50 miles southeast of Smith’s Island and from Friday to Saturday sailed west between Sumisu Island and the island of Tori-Shima, according to a Monday news release from the JSO. A JMSDF P-1 Maritime Patrol Aircraft (MPA) of Fleet Air Wing 4 based at Naval Air Facility Atsugi on the main island of Honshu shadowed the PLAN destroyer.

JMSDF Image

The movement of the PLAN ships comes ahead of the G-7 summit scheduled for May 19 through 21 in Hiroshima, Japan. Chinese media said the movement was a message to Japan following various remarks by Japan’s leaders about Taiwan. Last year in May, Chinese and Russian bombers conducted a joint flight the same day U.S. President Joe Biden was meeting his Australian, Indian and Japanese Quad grouping counterparts in Tokyo. So far, beyond the releases, Tokyo has not issued any statements about the PLAN ships movements. Japan Defense Minister Yasukazu Hamada made no comments on the ships in his regular press conferences on Tuesday and Friday, though the transcripts also showed that reporters did not ask about the ships.

Meanwhile, Russian Navy corvettes RFS Sovershennyy (333) and RFS Gromkiy (335), along with a Dubna-class fleet oiler, were sighted on Friday at 10 a.m. local time sailing southwest in the Sea of Japan at an area 50 miles northeast of Tsushima, JSO said in a Friday news release. The three ships subsequently sailed southwest through the Tsushima Strait and entered the East China Sea. Fast attack craft JS Shirataka (PG-829) and a JMSDF P-1 Maritime Patrol Aircraft (MPA) of Fleet Air Wing 4 monitored the Russian ships.

On May 9th, we started the “trial operations of unmanned aerial vehicles” at Hachinohe airport.
In order to secure Japanese nationals and their peaceful livelihoods, the JMSDF will fundamentally reinforce its defense capabilities. pic.twitter.com/IvTZ6euiDJ

— Japan Maritime Self-Defense Force (@jmsdf_pao_eng) May 9, 2023

On Tuesday, the JMSDF announced that it started an unmanned aerial vehicle trial program at JMSDF Hachinohe Air Base, which is located in the northern part of the main island of Honshu. The trial involves a single General Atomics MQ-9B Sea Guardian, which is under lease from the company. The program will assess whether Japan can utilize unmanned systems in the JMSDF missions and replace manned assets, particularly for surveillance and early warning. No set date has been announced for the completion of the trial. The Japan Coast Guard also currently operates a single MQ-9B, which is stationed at JMSDF Hachinohe, and has received funding under the Fiscal Year 2023 budget to buy two more systems.

Meanwhile, a number of ships from various navies are conducting or wrapping up engagement and exercises in the region. The U.S Navy and the Royal Thai Navy began exercise Cooperation Afloat Readiness and Training (CARAT) Thailand 2023 on April 8, according to a Navy news release issues last week.

“CARAT Thailand is a bilateral maritime exercise taking place ashore in Sattahip and at sea in the Gulf of Thailand,” U.S. 7th Fleet said in the news release. “The Independence-variant littoral combat ship USS Mobile (LCS 26) with embarked MH-60R Seahawk will meet the RTN frigates HTMS Naresuan (FFG 421), HTMS Bangpakong (FFG 456), and HTMS Kraburi (FFG 457) at sea.”

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