China's Navy Transits Yokoate Waterway for First Time

On April 19, 2026, China's People's Liberation Army Navy dispatched a task group led by the Type 052D guided-missile destroyer Baotou through the Yokoate Waterway, a passage between Japan's Amami Oshima and Yokoate islands, to conduct training exercises in the western Pacific Ocean. The move marked the first publicly announced transit by Chinese naval vessels through this route, which lies closer to the Japanese mainland than the more commonly used Miyako Strait.

The Eastern Theater Command of the People's Liberation Army described the operation as routine training organized according to its annual plan, aimed at testing the far-seas operational capabilities of its forces. The task group, designated formation 133 and including the Type 054A frigate Huanggang, navigated the waterway without incident, according to a statement from Senior Colonel Xu Chenghua, a spokesperson for the command. "It complies with international law and practice, and does not target any specific country or entity," Xu said.

The deployment followed closely after a Japanese Maritime Self-Defense Force destroyer, the JS Ikazuchi, transited the Taiwan Strait on April 17, the 131st anniversary of the 1895...