Japan Accuses China of Violating Airspace

By Staff, Agencies

Japan has condemned an unprecedented violation of its airspace by a Chinese military aircraft as “utterly unacceptable” and a threat to its security.

The incursion comes after repeated maritime provocations by Chinese vessels near disputed islands in the East China Sea in an escalation of regional tensions.

The incursion was a “serious violation of sovereignty”, Japan’s chief government spokesperson said on Tuesday, calling it a first for a Chinese military aircraft. “The violation of our airspace by Chinese military aircraft is not only a serious violation of our sovereignty but also a threat to our security and is totally unacceptable,” Yoshimasa Hayashi told reporters.

He added: “We understand that this is the first confirmed and announced airspace incursion by a Chinese military aircraft since we started the anti-airspace incursion measures.

“We refrain from giving a definite answer as to the intended purpose of the Chinese aircraft’s action. However, China’s recent military activities near Japan have a tendency to expand and become increasingly active.

A Y-9 surveillance aircraft breached Japanese airspace for about two minutes from 11.29am on Monday, Japan’s defense ministry said.

The ministry said the aircraft “violated the territorial airspace off the Danjo islands in Nagasaki prefecture”, prompting Japan to scramble “fighter jets on an emergency basis”.

It said “warnings” and other steps had been issued to the aircraft, but public broadcaster NHK reported that no weapons, such as flare guns, had been used.

The defense ministry released a photograph of what it said was the plane, which reportedly circled above waters southeast of the islands multiple times before and after entering Japan’s airspace, Kyodo news agency said. It headed back towards China at about 1:15 pm.

The deputy foreign minister, Masataka Okano, summoned China’s acting ambassador late on Monday to lodge a “firm protest”, and called for measures against a recurrence, the foreign ministry said in a statement.

The Chinese diplomat said in response that the matter would be reported to Beijing, the ministry said. There was no immediate official comment from Beijing.