The Maritime Self-Defense Force confirmed that a foreign submarine sailed in the continental zone just outside Japan's territorial waters around Amami Oshima in Kagoshima Prefecture without surfacing.
The submarine is believed to belong to the Chinese army, and the Ministry of Defense is analyzing the purpose of the navigation.
According to the Ministry of Defense, on the 10th, the Maritime Self-Defense Force's escort ship and patrol aircraft confirmed that a foreign submarine was sailing northwest without surfacing in the connecting water area east of Amami Oshima, and it was tracked. I did.
The submarine was confirmed to have left the continental zone and sailed westward in the East China Sea by the morning of the 12th.
During this time, there was no invasion of the territorial waters.
According to the Ministry of Defense, a Chinese Navy missile destroyer has been confirmed to be sailing near the submarine, and the submarine is believed to belong to the Chinese Navy.
It has been confirmed that foreign submarines have sailed in the continental zone without surfacing since last June, when a submarine believed to be the Chinese Navy sailed around Amami Oshima.
International law requires a submarine to surface and raise its national flag in its territorial waters when sailing offshore in another country, but this is not the case in the continental zone.
The Ministry of Defense is analyzing the purpose of the navigation, assuming that the submarines continue to sail in the same area.
Instructions such as collecting information from the Minister of Defense Kishi
The Minister of Defense Kishi, who is visiting Vietnam, instructed him to take all possible measures to gather information and monitor alerts with a sense of tension.