TOKYO -- Military helicopters took off from Chinese and Russian warships sailing near a Japanese island, according to the Ministry of Defense, days after a Sino-Russian naval passage through a chokepoint in Japan's north.
The latest incident took place around 4 a.m. Thursday about 50 km to 100 km southwest of Smith Island, part of the Izu archipelago stretching south of Tokyo off Japan's Pacific side. Two helicopters flew from frigates operated by China and Russia.
