Chinese navy sails between Japanese islands near Taiwan

A Chinese aircraft carrier sailed between two Japanese islands near Taiwan for the first time, Japan's military said yesterday, in the latest move by Beijing to anger the close US ally.

Japan's government said it was the first time that a Chinese aircraft carrier, which was accompanied by two destroyers, entered its contiguous zone, an area up to 24 nautical miles from the Japanese coast.

"This incident is totally unacceptable from the perspective of the security environment of Japan and the region, and we have expressed our serious concerns to the Chinese side through diplomatic channels," Japanese government spokesman Hiroshi Moriya said.

China said the passage, which came less than a month after the first confirmed incursion into Japanese airspace by a Chinese surveillance aircraft, complied with international law.

The Liaoning carrier and two Luyang III-class missile destroyers were seen sailing southwards between the islands of Yonaguni and Iriomote on Tuesday and yesterday, the Japanese defence ministry's joint staff said.

Yonaguni and Iriomote are near the uninhabited and disputed Senkaku islands in the East China Sea, known by Beijing as the Diaoyus, which have long been a source of friction between the two countries.