Japan's Joint Staff photographs Chinese frigate 532 heading through the Osumi Strait

Grey Chinese navy frigate in side view on deep blue sea, with hull number 532 on the bow, a helicopter deck marked with a circle at the stern, radar domes and a mast flying a red Chinese flag, and white wake at the stern. — Japan Joint Staff / JMSDF photo · CC BY 4.0 (Japan Joint Staff / JMSDF photo; Government of Japan Standard Terms of Use 2.0)

Photo released Oct. 20, 2026 by Japan's Joint Staff. It says the JMSDF spotted a PLA Navy Jiangkai-II-class frigate (hull number 532) sailing east at about 4 p.m. on Oct. 19 about 100 km west of Kuchinoerabu-jima in Kagoshima Prefecture, and that the ship sailed east through the Osumi Strait toward the Pacific on Oct. 19-20 while the destroyer JS Teruzuki and a P-1 patrol aircraft monitored it. The photo shows the grey frigate in profile with hull number 532 on the bow and a Chinese flag on its mast.

What: Japan's Joint Staff photographs Chinese frigate 532 heading through the Osumi Strait
Where: Osumi Strait, Japan
When: 2026-10-20
Source: Japan Joint Staff
Credit: Japan Joint Staff / JMSDF photo
License: CC BY 4.0 (Japan Joint Staff / JMSDF photo; Government of Japan Standard Terms of Use 2.0)
Details: Official release · Japan Joint Staff (Ministry of Defense), JMSDF · Osumi Strait, Japan

Naval unspecified new japan china plan osumi-strait jmsdf frigate

Japan's Joint Staff photographs Chinese frigate 532 heading through the Osumi Strait

Sources and credit

Discussion