China Conducts Live-Fire Drill in Japan-Claimed EEZ

China conducted a live-fire naval exercise on 20 July 2026 inside an area that Japan claims as its Exclusive Economic Zone (EEZ) near Okinotorishima, a remote Pacific island that Japan treats as its southernmost island. The drill took place about 180 kilometres southwest of Okinotorishima and involved a Chinese Luyang III-class missile destroyer firing live rounds, while a Russian frigate was also present in the area.

Exclusive Economic Zone

An Exclusive Economic Zone is a maritime zone defined under the United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea (UNCLOS). It extends up to 200 nautical miles from a coastal state’s baseline, and the coastal state has sovereign rights over natural resources in the water column, seabed, and subsoil. Other states retain freedom of navigation and overflight in an EEZ under UNCLOS. Military exercises in an EEZ have been a subject of legal and diplomatic debate in several maritime disputes.

Okinotorishima and Maritime Claims

Okinotorishima is a small coral atoll in the Philippine Sea and is Japan’s southernmost territory. Japan maintains that the feature can generate an EEZ, while China has argued that it is too small and largely submerged at high tide to support such a claim. The legal status of small maritime features is linked to Article 121 of UNCLOS, which distinguishes between islands, rocks, and low-tide elevations. The classification affects whether a feature can generate an EEZ and continental shelf rights.

Naval Platforms and Regional Security

The Luyang III-class destroyer is a modern Chinese guided-missile destroyer used by the People’s Liberation Army Navy. Russian naval presence in the same area has been associated with joint or coordinated maritime activity between China and Russia in the western Pacific. Japan’s Ministry of Defence stated that this was the first publicly announced detection of a foreign navy’s live-fire exercise inside Japan-claimed EEZ waters. Japan also lodged a diplomatic protest through official channels on 21 July 2026.

Important Facts for Exams

• UNCLOS defines the Exclusive Economic Zone as extending up to 200 nautical miles from the baseline.
• Article 121 of UNCLOS deals with the regime of islands and their maritime entitlements.
• Japan considers Okinotorishima its southernmost island and uses it in its maritime claim.
• The People’s Liberation Army Navy operates the Luyang III-class missile destroyer.

Japan and China have disputed maritime boundaries in the East China Sea and the western Pacific for several years. Live-fire naval drills in disputed maritime zones are often linked to EEZ interpretation under UNCLOS.