A Chinese navy vessel and a China Coast Guard ship passed through the Osumi Strait off Kagoshima Prefecture and sailed toward the Pacific, the Defense Ministry said. It is the first time the ministry has announced that Chinese navy and coast guard ships passed through a strait at the same time.
The Osumi Strait separates Kyushu's southern tip from Tanegashima and other islands of the Osumi chain, connecting the East China Sea with the Pacific. Sailing a navy ship and a coast guard vessel through together puts military and law-enforcement presence in the same transit, blurring the line between the two.
The ministry did not give the date of the passage, the number of vessels beyond the two it named, or their route beyond the strait and the Pacific.