Image Credits: Wikipedia A Chinese navy destroyer carried out a live-fire exercise inside Japan’s exclusive economic zone (EEZ), marking the first time Tokyo has publicly reported such an incident. Japan lodged a protest with China and stepped up air and sea surveillance, saying the drill was part of growing military cooperation between China and Russia. The drill took place on Sunday about 180 km (110 miles) southwest of Okinotori, Japan’s southernmost island. According to Japan’s Defence Ministry, the Chinese warship used live machine-gun fire after warning nearby ships over radio that the exercise would take place. Chief Cabinet Secretary Minoru Kihara said Japan protested through diplomatic channels, saying the drill “could have endangered the navigation of nearby ships.” He said Tokyo would continue monitoring Chinese and Russian military activities in the waters around Japan. The exercise is the first live-fire drill by a Chinese naval vessel inside Japan’s EEZ to be publicly disclosed by Japan’s Defence Ministry. Japan said it views the operation as part of closer military cooperation between China and Russia, whose joint naval and air activities around Japan have increased in recent years. According to Japan’s military, four ships – a Chinese Renhai-class guided-missile destroyer, a Luyang III-class guided-missile destroyer, a Fuchi-class replenishment ship and a Russian Steregushchiy-class frigate, were first spotted at around 2 a.m. on Sunday about 330 km southwest of Okinotori. The Luyang III-class destroyer later carried out the live-fire drill about 180 km southwest of the island while Japan’s Maritime Self-Defense Force monitored the exercise and gathered intelligence. Defence Minister Shinjiro Koizumi, speaking at the Farnborough International Airshow in England on Monday, said Chinese and Russian naval vessels were conducting joint navigation operations around Japan. “At this moment, C