Chinese Military Plane Breaches Japan Airspace, in a First
(Bloomberg) -- A Chinese military aircraft entered Japanese airspace in an unprecedented incident that prompted a strong condemnation from Tokyo and a pledge from Beijing to look into the matter.
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Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesman Lin Jian said China didn’t intend to breach another nation’s airspace, adding at a regular press briefing Tuesday that the government is verifying what happened.
Earlier in the day, Japan’s top government spokesman Yoshimasa Hayashi called the incursion unacceptable. “This is not just a serious violation of our territory but also a threat to our security,” he said.
The event took place before noon on Monday. Japan scrambled fighter jets to warn off a Chinese Y-9 intelligence-gathering aircraft that spent two minutes in Japanese territorial airspace near uninhabited islands off Japan’s south coast.
The incident was the first confirmed incursion into Japan’s airspace by a Chinese military aircraft, according to an official at the Defense Ministry, who asked not to be identified in line with ministry custom.
Grant Newsham, a senior research fellow at the Japan Forum for Strategic Studies, said the air incursion appeared to be part of a pattern by China of trying to keep Japan off balance and worried.
“It’s a small thing by itself, but compare it with everything else the People’s Republic of China is and has been doing and it’s best viewed as China gradually intensifying pressure and intimidation on Japan,” Newsham said.
It comes as China clashes with the Philippines, another American ally in Asia, and as senior Chinese officials meet with US National Security Advisor Jake Sullivan in Beijing.
Japan frequently launches fighter jets when Chinese and Russian aircraft approach its territory. Those scrambles rose to a monthly high this year of 85 in July, according to Japan’s military. Until Monday, Chinese military aircraft had avoided entering Japanese airspace.
China, meanwhile, said a Japanese destroyer had sailed into its territorial waters last month. A week after the July 4 incident, Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesman Lin told reporters that Japan claimed it was due to a technical problem. Japan’s government has declined to comment on the matter.
Following Monday’s aerial incursion, Japan’s Defense Ministry released a map showing the flight path of the Chinese Y-9 aircraft, which is equipped to gather electronic signals and other intelligence. The plane circled the area near the Danjo islands before entering Japanese airspace, and then headed back toward the Chinese mainland.
While China has sought stable ties with the US in recent months, it has also shown a willingness to increase pressure on Washington’s allies. Last week, the Philippines said China shot flares at a Filipino plane that was conducting a patrol in the South China Sea.
Japan and China have deep economic ties but their relations are troubled by an array of differences, including China’s claim to Japanese-controlled islands in the East China Sea. On most days, Chinese coast guard ships patrol near the territory, known as the Senkaku islands in Japan and Diaoyu islands in China.
China and Japan have also been in disagreement over Japan’s move to release treated radioactive wastewater into the sea from the destroyed Fukushima nuclear power plant. After the release started last year, China imposed a ban on all seafood from Japan. Tokyo has also raised concerns with Beijing about Japanese citizens detained in China.
On Monday, Japan summoned China’s acting ambassador to protest the air incursion and called for steps to prevent a recurrence. In a separate meeting, a senior Japanese Foreign Ministry official pressed a Chinese Foreign Ministry official on the seafood ban, detained citizens and the disputed island issue, according to a statement from the Japanese side.
There have been two previous incursions by Chinese government civilian aircraft — one by a propeller plane in 2012 and another by a drone in 2017, according to the Defense Ministry official.
--With assistance from Yasufumi Saito, Philip Glamann and Lucille Liu.
(Updates with Chinese government reaction, background and analyst comment.)
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