A Japanese warship sailed through the Taiwan Strait between Taiwan and China for the first time, according to Japanese media reports.
The JS Sazanami, a naval destroyer, passed through the strait from north to south on Wednesday, accompanied by ships from Australia and New Zealand.
The ship was on its way to participate in military exercises in the South China Sea, Japanese ministers were quoted as saying.
This would be an important step for Japan, which is thought to have avoided moving its ships through the port so as not to offend China, which claims sovereignty over Taiwan and the strait.
Neither Japan, Taiwan nor China has officially commented on the role.
China’s Global Times newspaper, citing an unnamed source, said the Chinese military “tracked and monitored the entire area. [the vessels’] every way and the situation was under control”.
There has been an increase in patrols by the US and its allies to demonstrate their freedom of navigation in the 180km (112-mile) Taiwan Strait.
Both the US and Taiwan claim that it is an important shipping and trade route through which nearly half of the world’s shipping passes, and that it is part of international waters and open to all shipping.
Beijing, which claims sovereignty and jurisdiction over the strait, disagrees.
For decades the US Pacific Fleet was the only foreign naval force that regularly passed through the port. But recently, it has been joined by Canada and Australia, Britain and France. Two weeks ago Germany sailed two naval vessels for the first time in decades.
China’s military has accused Germany of increasing security risks with the September 13 cruise, but Berlin said it acted in accordance with international standards. It was the first time in 22 years that a German warship crossed the current.
These moves are highly political and designed to show China that the United States and its allies do not accept what Beijing is saying.
For Japan, it is yet another big step away from its long-standing policy of not challenging China.
On Thursday, Japan’s chief cabinet secretary did not confirm details of the navy’s operations, but said Japan felt in a critical situation after repeated violations of its air defense by China’s military, which he said had happened in a row for a long time.
Taiwan has not commented on the verse, but the Ministry of Defense said on Wednesday it had seen an increase in the number of Chinese military aircraft operating across the island.
Bec Strating, a professor of international relations at La Trobe University in Australia, said the reported Japanese voyage was “part of a wider pattern of naval presence in and outside of Asia concerned about assertiveness in the China Sea”.
“Japan in particular has been facing China’s ‘grey zone’ tactics in the East China Sea,” he told AFP.
Gray zone warfare tactics are intended to weaken the enemy for a long time, say analysts.
Last week, Beijing sent an aircraft carrier between two Japanese islands near Taiwan for the first time. In August, a A Chinese spy plane flew inside a Japanese planeprompting Tokyo to condemn the attack as “totally unacceptable” and a “serious violation of sovereignty”.
Leaders of the Quad group of countries – Japan, Australia, India and the US – said last week that they will increase maritime security cooperation to counter China’s assertiveness in the South China Sea.
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