China conducts rare live-fire drill inside Japan's claimed EEZ

China conducted a rare live-fire naval exercise inside what Japan claims as its Exclusive Economic Zone (EEZ) near the remote Pacific island of Okinotorishima, prompting Tokyo to lodge a diplomatic protest with Beijing.According to Japan's defence ministry, it was the first time a foreign navy had carried out and publicly acknowledged such a live-fire drill inside Japan's claimed EEZ.The ministry stated that the exercise took place on Sunday about 180 kilometres southwest of Okinotorishima.Japanese forces had earlier detected two Chinese destroyers, a Chinese supply ship and a Russian frigate operating together in the area before one of the Chinese warships fired a machine gun during the exercise, according to Bloomberg.Japan's chief cabinet secretary Minoru Kihara said the government protested through diplomatic channels, arguing that the drill "could pose a danger to the navigation of vessels in the surrounding waters."China rejects Japan's protestChina dismissed Japan's concerns, disputing Tokyo's claim that Okinotorishima…