New Delhi: Beijing has put on two separate displays of maritime muscle-flexing even as foreign ministers of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) gather in Manila for a regional summit. In the West Pacific, a Chinese Luyang III-class guided-missile destroyer fired live rounds inside Japan’s exclusive economic zone (EEZ) during a joint naval exercise with Russia, even as the Chinese Coast Guard (CGG) engaged in a violent clash with the Philippine Navy near the disputed Second Thomas Shoal in the South China Sea.
US Secretary of State Marco Rubio and India’s External Affairs Minister S. Jaishankar are among the leaders ministers gathered in Manila for the 59th ASEAN Foreign Ministers’ Meeting and its associated mechanisms. The summit will continue till 24 July.Marking the first time Beijing has discharged live weapons within Japan’s EEZ , the Pacific incident occurred on Sunday about 180 km from Okinotori, Japan’s southernmost island. Japan’s Chief Cabinet Secretary, Minoru Kihara, confirmed the incident at a press briefing on Tuesday, saying Tokyo contacted Beijing via diplomatic channels, and conveyed that the drill “could have endangered the navigation of nearby ships”.” Kihara added: We will continue to monitor with concern the behaviours by Chinese and Russian vessels in the waters around our country.”
