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Chinese Navy Passes by Japanese Islands Again After Pacific Training
Published by Global Banking & Finance Review®
Posted on April 22, 2026
3 min readLast updated: April 22, 2026
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A flotilla of Chinese naval vessels including a new destroyer from the PLA’s Eastern Theater Command passed through the Yonaguni–Iriomote waterway on April 22, returning to China after Western Pacific training. This mirrors a prior transit on April 19 and follows regional tensions heightened by a Ja
Chinese navy brushes past Okinawa islands as tensions with Japan flare
Rising Maritime Tensions in the East China Sea
(Corrects paragraph 5 to say a group of Chinese naval vessels sailed through the Yokoate Waterway on Sunday, not the Yonaguni-Iriomote Waterway)
Chinese Naval Movements Near Okinawa
BEIJING, April 22 (Reuters) - China said a group of its naval vessels, including a destroyer, passed through a waterway between two islands administered by the Japanese prefecture of Okinawa on Wednesday as it returned home after testing far-seas capabilities.
Vessel formation 133 dispatched by the People's Liberation Army's Eastern Theater Command completed its training in the Western Pacific, and has returned through the Yonaguni-Iriomote Waterway, said the command, which is responsible for East China, the East China Sea and the Taiwan Strait.
International Maritime Law and Japanese Response
While non-Japanese vessels are allowed to pass through the narrow band of waters in the middle of the Yonaguni-Iriomote Waterway, Japan reserves the right to take action if vessels stray into the country's territorial sea, defined as seas 12 nautical miles (22 km) from its shoreline.
The width of the waterway is about 65 km (35 nautical miles).
Recent Naval Transits and Diplomatic Fallout
PLA and Japanese Naval Encounters
On Sunday, to reach the Pacific Ocean, the PLA formation sailed through a waterway between the Japanese islands of Amami Oshima and Yokoate, a passage northeast of the Yonaguni-Iriomote Waterway and farther away from Taiwan. The transit followed the passage of a Japanese destroyer through the Taiwan Strait on Friday that Beijing said was a "deliberate provocation".
China's Stance on Taiwan and International Waters
China regards democratically governed Taiwan as part of its "sacred" territory despite Taipei's rejection of the claim. Beijing has responded aggressively on occasion to foreign navies sailing through the Taiwan Strait, which Beijing says is not international waters.
Escalation of Diplomatic Tensions
The Japanese transit last week provoked an angry response from the Chinese foreign ministry, which said Japan's deployment of a military vessel in the Taiwan Strait was "a display of force" and "a deliberate provocation" that threatens China's sovereignty and security.
The Chinese defence ministry said then that the passage of the Japanese destroyer had sent a "wrong" signal to pro-independence forces in Taiwan.
Strategic Importance of Yonaguni and Military Developments
Heightened Focus on Yonaguni Island
Sino-Japanese ties have significantly weakened since November last year when Japanese Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi said a hypothetical Chinese attack on Taiwan could spark a military response from Japan.
Yonaguni, just 110 km (68 miles) off Taiwan's eastern coast, is increasingly on the radar of both China and Japan.
Chinese Aircraft Carrier Passage and Japanese Military Plans
In September 2024, the Liaoning passed through the Yonaguni-Iriomote Waterway, marking the first transit of a Chinese aircraft carrier in Japan's contiguous waters, triggering loud protests from Tokyo.
In November last year, the Japanese defence ministry said it had been advancing a plan to deploy a medium-range surface-to-air missile unit at a military base on the island.
The plan has since triggered even more hostility from China, which has said the move was "extremely dangerous".
(Reporting by Ryan Woo; Editing by Tom Hogue, Raju Gopalakrishnan and Muralikumar Anantharaman)
Key Takeaways
- •The PLA’s newly commissioned destroyer led Formation 133 through a strategic Okinawan waterway as part of post-exercise redeployment. (apnews.com)
- •This marked a second transit within days through the narrow Yonaguni–Iriomote corridor, underscoring China’s regular use of international straits near Japan for naval operations. (apnews.com)
- •The movements come amid wider regional military activity—Japan sees these passages as indicative of China's expanding operational reach beyond the first island chain. (chinapower.csis.org)
References
Frequently Asked Questions about Chinese navy passes by Japanese islands again after Pacific training
1Which Chinese naval vessels passed by the Japanese islands?
A group of Chinese naval vessels, including a new destroyer, passed between the Japanese islands of Yonaguni and Iriomote.
2Why did the PLA navy transit the Yonaguni-Iriomote Waterway?
The vessels returned to China after testing their far-seas capabilities in the Western Pacific.
3What is the significance of the PLA Eastern Theater Command?
The PLA Eastern Theater Command is responsible for East China, the East China Sea, and the Taiwan Strait.
4Did Chinese naval vessels pass the same waterway before?
Yes, the formation sailed through the same waterway on Sunday to reach the Pacific Ocean.
5How did China respond to the Japanese destroyer's transit through the Taiwan Strait?
Beijing described the Japanese destroyer's transit as a deliberate provocation.
