The Defense Ministry believes Chinese aircraft carriers recently found operating in the Pacific may have conducted drills for countering U.S. forces in the event of conflict in or around Taiwan.
The ministry last week announced for the first time that it had spotted two Chinese aircraft carriers operating simultaneously in Pacific waters near Japan.
The vessels sailed within Japan's exclusive economic zone near remote islands that are part of the Ogasawara chain. There were also incidents in which a Chinese fighter jet based on one of the flattops flew dangerously close to a Maritime Self-Defense Force plane.
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