A Chinese military aircraft which briefly entered Japanese airspace was an “absolutely unacceptable” territorial violation and safety threat, government officials have said.
Japanese chief cabinet secretary Yoshimasa Hayashi said on Tuesday that a Chinese Y-9 reconnaissance plane briefly entered Japan’s south-western airspace on Monday, forcing its military to scramble fighter jets.
He added that it was the first time the Japanese Self Defence Force detected a Chinese military aircraft in its airspace.
Mr Hayashi said: “The Chinese military aircraft’s incursion into Japan’s airspace not only is a serious violation of our territorial rights but also a safety threat. We found it absolutely unacceptable.”
The Chinese Y-9 reconnaissance plane circled above Danjo Island off the south-western coast of Japan’s main southern island of Kyushu for two minutes, the Joint Staff of the Japanese Self Defence Force said late on Monday, adding that officials were analysing the latest Chinese military activity.
The Joint Staff said Japan scrambled fighter jets and warned the Chinese plane to leave.
Chinese foreign ministry spokesperson Lin Jian said China has “no intention” to violate any country’s airspace, adding that “the competent Chinese authorities are learning and verifying the situation”.
Mr Hayashi stressed that China’s military activity around Japan in recent years has become “increasingly expanding and intensifying”.
He said Japan will continue watching Chinese military activity and do its utmost to respond to possible anti-airspace violations.
The foreign ministry said in a statement that Japanese vice foreign minister Masataka Okano summoned acting Chinese ambassador Shi Yong to strongly protest the airspace violation.
Mr Okano also demanded that China take steps to avoid such incidents.
According to Japan’s military, it scrambled jets nearly 669 times between April 2023 and March 2024, about 70% of the time against Chinese military aircraft, though that did not include airspace violations.
Japanese defence officials are increasingly concerned about growing military co-operation between the Chinese and Russian air forces, and China’s increasingly assertive activity around Japanese waters and airspace.
It led Tokyo to significantly reinforce defences of south-western Japan, including remote islands that are considered key to Japan’s defence strategy in the region.
