Chinese officials took issue with Japan’s claim. Wang Xuemeng, a spokesman for the Chinese Navy, said in a statement that the Liaoning was carrying out “routine carrier-based fighter jet flight training” that had been announced in advance.

Like its neighbor Mali, Burkina Faso also witnessed two successive coups. In January 2022, Roch Kaboré was ousted by Lt. Col. Paul-Henri Damiba. In September, Capt. Ibrahim Traoré, the head of an artillery unit of Burkina Faso army, ousted Damiba on the same pretext as the earlier coup — deteriorating security.