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The PLA mobilised its navy, air force and strategic missile corps in staged joint military drills in the Yellow Sea and the Gobi Desert earlier this month. Photos: SCMP

PLA puts military heat on Japan over Diaoyu Islands

Beijing urges Japan to retract decision to buy disputed Diaoyus

The People's Liberation Army stepped up its sabre-rattling yesterday in what was seen as a warning to Japan that it is ready to safeguard China's sovereignty in the escalating dispute over the disputed island chain in the East China Sea.

In a front-page report, the said the army's navy, air force and strategic missile corps had staged joint military drills in the Yellow Sea and in the Gobi Desert early this month, detailing a string of all-weather, live-fire exercises by the Nanjing Military Command.

One of the key missions of the command is to defend the East China Sea, where China and Japan claim sovereignty over the Diaoyu Islands, known as the Senkakus in Japan.

Shenzhen Satellite Television said yesterday that the Chengdu, Jinan and Guangzhou military commands had also launched intensive military exercises in recent days, including seaborne assaults and sea-to-sea missile interceptor drills.

Experts said the drills were clearly a warning to Japan. "The string of PLA drills is aimed at warning Tokyo that if it attempts to deploy its maritime self-defence force to deal with our patrol ships, we are ready to defend our national interests when any conflicts happen," said Xu Guangyu, a senior researcher at the China Arms Control and Disarmament Association in Beijing.

Beijing sent marine surveillance ships to waters near the Diaoyus on Tuesday, in response to the Japanese government's purchase of the islands.

The Foreign Ministry's director general for Asian affairs, Luo Zhaohui, called on Japan to retract its decision to buy the islands from their private Japanese owner when he met Japanese counterpart Shinsuke Sugiyama yesterday.

Sugiyama said both countries would continue to communicate on the islands issue, but Japanese Foreign Minister Koichiro Gemba told a press conference in Tokyo yesterday that it was impossible for Japan to abandon the purchase of the islands.

The US has called for calm.

This article appeared in the South China Morning Post print edition as: PLA steps up military drills to ward off Japan
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