Japanese Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi has vowed to “respond calmly and decisively” after Chinese military aircraft were accused of twice locking radar on Japanese fighter jets southeast of Okinawa’s main island this weekend.
Takaichi told reporters on Sunday that Japan would take all possible measures to strengthen maritime and airspace surveillance and closely monitor the activities of the Chinese military, amid rising tensions between the two countries. The Chinese ambassador was summoned on Sunday.
Chinese J-15 fighter jets from the aircraft carrier Liaoning locked radar on Japanese F-15s twice — at 4:32 p.m. and again about two hours later on Saturday, Japan’s Defense Ministry said. Visual confirmation was not possible due to the distances and no damage or injury was caused.
It was the first time the Japanese Ministry of Defense made such an incident public, Japan’s Kyodo news agency reported. Fighter jets use their radar to identify targets and for search and rescue operations.
The Chinese Navy said Tokyo’s claim was “completely inconsistent with the facts” and told Tokyo to “immediately stop slandering and slandering.” It said in a statement that Japanese Self-Defense Forces (SDF) aircraft “seriously compromised flight safety” by repeatedly approaching training zones. According to Kyodo, no radar lock-on was reported.
A Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesperson, quoted by China’s Xinhua news agency, urged Japan to “immediately stop its dangerous attempts to harass China’s normal military exercises and training.”
Relations between Beijing and Tokyo have deteriorated in the past month after Takaichi said an attack on Taiwan could trigger the deployment of her country’s Self-Defense Forces if the conflict posed an existential threat to Japan.
Takaichi stressed that Japan could exercise its right to collective self-defense – or come to the aid of an ally – and said Tokyo should “anticipate a worst-case scenario” in the Taiwan Strait. The comments prompted Donald Trump to urge Takaichi to prevent further escalation in a dispute with China
Japan has long grappled with how it would respond to a conflict between China and Taiwan, which is just 100 km from its westernmost island, Yonaguni, in the East China Sea.
Japanese Defense Minister Shinjiro Koizumi said on Sunday that Saturday’s incident was “dangerous and extremely regrettable”.
Chinese Ambassador Wu Jianghao was summoned on Sunday afternoon, where Vice Foreign Minister Funakoshi Takehiro “strongly protested that such dangerous acts are extremely deplorable,” the Foreign Ministry said in a statement.
Funakoshi “strongly urged the Chinese government to ensure that similar actions are not repeated,” it said late on Sunday.
The two countries have a long-standing territorial dispute over the Senkaku Islands, known as the Diaoyu in China. The small, uninhabited islands lie between Okinawa and Taiwan, the much larger self-governed island that China also claims.
Tokyo is deepening cooperation with U.S. allies in the Asia-Pacific region, where several countries have territorial disputes with China.
Beijing, for example, claims almost the entire South China Sea and has stepped up its claim of control over parts of the strategic waterway, despite an international ruling that its claim has no legal basis.
With Agence France-Presse
#Japans #vows #respond #decisively #Chinese #planes #accused #plugging #radar #Japanese #fighter #jets