The Chinese aircraft carrier Liaoning, seen here in the Western Pacific on April 18, 2018, was spotted operating in Japan's exclusive economic zone for the first time on June 7, 2025. (China's Ministry of National Defense)
TOKYO — A Chinese aircraft carrier entered Japan’s easternmost exclusive economic zone for the first time over the weekend, a move likely to raise tensions in a region already on edge amid growing maritime competition.
Japan’s Joint Staff announced Sunday that the Liaoning, China’s first aircraft carrier, was observed roughly 185 miles southwest of Minamitorishima, a remote coral atoll considered Japan’s easternmost territory.
The carrier was accompanied by two guided-missile cruisers and a fast combat support ship, according to the Joint Staff press release. The vessels were first spotted around 6 p.m. Saturday.
On Sunday, Japanese surveillance confirmed that fighter jets and helicopters were taking off from and landing on the carrier’s deck.
“This is the first time the Chinese aircraft carrier Liaoning has been confirmed to conduct activities east of Iwo Jima,” a Joint Staff spokesman told Stars and Stripes by phone Monday.
Minamitorishima, also known as Marcus Island, is a tiny speck of land some 1,500 miles southeast of Tokyo. Although it measures just half a square mile, it is of strategic value. It provides Japan with an exclusive economic zone, or EEZ, of approximately 166,000 square miles where rare-earth minerals have been discovered, according to the Tokyo Metropolitan Government website.
Under the United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea, a country’s EEZ extends up to 200 nautical miles from its coast, granting it special rights to natural resources within that area, even though it does not constitute sovereign territory.
Monitoring and surveillance of the Liaoning were carried out by the Sasebo-based guided-missile destroyer JS Haguro, according to the release.
The maneuvers appear to be part of China’s ongoing efforts to build the blue-water capabilities of its naval forces, the Joint Staff spokesman said. It’s customary in Japan that some government officials speak to reporters on condition of anonymity.
The Liaoning was previously observed in the East China Sea on May 25 and 26, according to the Joint Staff news release. It sailed southeast through the waters between Okinawa’s main island and Miyako Island on May 27 before entering the Western Pacific, where it conducted flight operations May 27-29. It was seen heading south on May 30.
