China flies military planes over strait near Japan in training exercise

Beijing

CHINA has sent fighter planes for the first time over a strait near Japan, the two governments said on Monday, after Tokyo announced it may patrol alongside the US in the disputed South China Sea.

More than 40 Chinese military aircraft on Sunday traversed the Miyako Strait between Japan's Miyako and Okinawa Islands, to carry out training in the West Pacific, according to a statement on China's defence ministry website.