Japan says Chinese military plane violated its airspace for the first time
The violation of Japan’s airspace by a Chinese military plane is “completely unacceptable,” the Japanese government’s top spokesperson said Tuesday.
TOKYO — The violation of Japan’s airspace by a Chinese military plane is “completely unacceptable,” the Japanese government’s top spokesperson said Tuesday, a day after Japan scrambled its military in response to what it said was an unprecedented incursion.
While Beijing said it has no intention of violating any country’s airspace, China’s military assertiveness in the Asia-Pacific, where it has vast territorial claims, has been a growing source of concern for the U.S., as well as China’s neighbors in the region, with confrontations becoming more common.
A Chinese military Y-9 intelligence-gathering aircraft entered Japanese airspace in the territorial waters off the Danjo Islands southwest of Japan’s main southern island, Kyushu, from about 11:29 to 11:31 a.m. Monday (10:29 to 10:31 p.m. Sunday ET), Chief Cabinet Secretary Yoshimasa Hayashi said, prompting Japan’s Air Self-Defense Force to warn it away.
“The incursion of our nation’s airspace by a Chinese military aircraft is not only a serious violation of our country’s sovereignty, but also a threat to our safety, and we consider it completely unacceptable,” he said at a daily news briefing.
Hayashi said Japan lodged an “extremely severe” protest with the Chinese government through diplomatic channels Monday and “strongly demanded that preventive measures are taken.”
Rating: 5