Fighters take off from Chinese aircraft carrier in Western Pacific

April 22, 2018

Tokyo- Fighter jets took off from and landed on the Chinese military's Liaoning aircraft carrier in the western Pacific on Friday, Japan's Defense Ministry has said.

Japan confirmed Chinese aircraft's flattop takeoffs and landings in the seas for the first time, although they had been observed in the South China Sea, the ministry said, adding it is vigilant more strongly than before against the Chinese military's maritime expansion.

The Japan Maritime Self-Defense Force's destroyer and a P3C patrol plane spotted at around 10:30 a.m. (1:30 a.m. GMT) on Friday seven Chinese warships, including the Liaoning and a missile destroyer, sailing east in waters some 350 kilometers south of the Okinawa Prefecture island of Yonaguni, the westernmost part of Japan, according to the ministry.

At around 11 a.m., multiple jets took off from the aircraft carrier, after China issued a notice of conducting a drill in the waters. Jiji Press