A WZ-7 high-altitude reconnaissance unmanned aerial vehicle Photo: Screenshot from the military channel of the CCTV News

As the Chinese People's Liberation Army (PLA) Navy's Liaoning carrier group continues the training in the western Pacific, Japan's Defense Ministry Joint Staff has claimed it has spotted not only vessel movements but also military aircraft activities, mostly those of reconnaissance planes. Against the backdrop of a US-Japan joint exercise, a Chinese expert said the reconnaissance aircraft may be providing situational awareness and intelligence support for the carrier group, while Japan's sensationalism surrounding these reports is driven more by political convenience than by genuine security concerns.

On Thursday, when asked to comment on reports that Japan had released data showing that its Air Self-Defense Force had scrambled 442 times in response to Chinese and Russian military aircraft from April to September this year, an increase of nearly 70 percent from the same period last year, including 285 scrambles in response to Chinese military aircraft and 152 in response to Russian military aircraft, as well as the Japanese defense minister's claim that joint China-Russia patrols were a "show of force" against Japan, Chinese Defense Ministry spokesperson Senior Colonel Zhang Xiaogang said that Japan was using its usual tactics to hype up the so-called security threats in its neighborhood.

This only served to confirm Japan's dangerous practice of frequently surveilling and harassing legitimate activities conducted by China and Russia, and exposed Japan's tendency to frighten itself with imagined threats, Zhang Xiaogang said. He urged Japan to stop playing such deceptive tricks and refrain from creating and hyping up tensions.

On Wednesday evening, Japan's Defense Ministry Joint Staff claimed that a PLA BZK-005 reconnaissance drone and a Y-9 intelligence-gathering aircraft had passed through the Miyako Strait into the Pacific that day. Later on the same day, a Y-9 patrol aircraft flew from the southwest of the Danjo Islands in the Nagasaki Prefecture toward waters northwest of Okinawa Island.

Similar monitoring was reported in the preceding days. On October 19, for instance, the Joint Staff claimed a PLA BZK-005 and a Y-9 flew from the East China Sea through the Miyako Strait into the Pacific, circled over the ocean and returned. The same day, a PLA TB-001 reconnaissance/strike drone flew from the East China Sea through the area between Yonaguni Island and Taiwan island into the Pacific.

Reports on the Y-9 have been the most frequent during this period, six days of notices on the aircraft, according to the Joint Staff's website.

These alleged sightings of Chinese aerial reconnaissance assets have come since the PLA Navy announced on October 14 that it had dispatched the Liaoning carrier group to conduct training in the western Pacific.

The PLA Navy said the deployment was a routine training mission carried out as part of the country's annual plan, aimed at testing and improving combat-oriented training and continuously enhancing the ability to fulfill missions. It complies with relevant international law and practice and does not target any specific country or target.

Meanwhile, a large US-Japan exercise was held from October 19 to 29. The large-scale "Keen Sword 27" military exercise involved more than 50,000 personnel from the Japan Self-Defense Forces and US forces, the Kyodo News has reported.

Zhang Junshe, a Chinese military affairs expert, said that with the Liao­ning's far-sea training and the US-Japan exercise overlapping, the Chinese reconnaissance aircraft may, to some extent, be providing situational awareness and intelligence support for the carrier group.

This multi-layered reconnaissance setup reflects the PLA Navy's approach to system-based far-sea training and joint operations, Zhang Junshe told the Global Times.

It is building a far-sea comprehensive support and situational awareness system, improving the carrier group's sustained combat capability and information advantage in complex waters far from the base. Complementary reconnaissance platforms also enable three-dimensional, real-time battlefield awareness, improving information acquisition and responsiveness in complex electromagnetic environments and high-intensity confrontations. At the same time, it tests and improves system-based combat effectiveness in realistic conditions, reflecting a combat-oriented training approach, Zhang Junshe said.

Separately, a CCTV News report on Sunday commented on Japan's footage of a Chinese WZ-7 high-altitude reconnaissance drone, shot from below, indicating a significant altitude gap between the filming aircraft and the WZ-7.

"The drone's maximum flight altitude is about 19,000 to 20,000 meters. If Japan can only look up to observe, locate and track the aircraft, it means Japanese assets cannot reach that altitude. At its maximum height, the drone's reconnaissance, early warning signal transmission and connectivity can reach a new level. China's air and sea advantages are being rapidly established in the relevant waters," military commentator Du Wenlong was quoted by CCTV as saying.

On October 14, Japan said that afternoon, a Y-9 operated between the waters southwest of the Danjo Islands and waters northwest of Okinawa. Additionally, a PLA WZ-7 reconnaissance drone flew over the East China Sea.

Zhang Junshe said that Japan's frequent releases on Chinese ships and aircraft amount to making a fuss out of nothing. The primary aim is to justify higher defense budgets, military expansion and remilitarization; the second is to manufacture regional tension and a favorable atmosphere for US-Japan military coordination in the Asia-Pacific.