Japan and Australia urge calm after Chinese radar locks on Japanese jets

TOKYO — Japan and Australia urged calm on Sunday after Chinese military aircraft locked radar on Japanese fighter jets, a month after the Japanese leader's recent remarks on Taiwan that stirred tensions between Tokyo and Beijing

TOKYO — Japan and Australia urged calm on Sunday after Chinese military aircraft locked radar on Japanese fighter jets, a month after the Japanese leader's recent remarks on Taiwan that stirred tensions between Tokyo and Beijing.

Defense Minister Shinjiro Koizumi said Japan formally protested the incident, calling it "an extremely regrettable" act and "a dangerous" one that "exceeded the scope necessary for safe aircraft operations."

"We have lodged a strong protest with the Chinese side and demanded strict preventive measures," Koizumi said.

Japan's Defense Ministry said China's military aircraft J-15 took off from the Chinese carrier Liaoning near the southern island of Okinawa on Saturday and "intermittently" latched its radar on Japanese F-15 fighter jets on two occasions Saturday, for about three minutes in the late afternoon and for about 30 minutes in the evening. It was not made clear whether the radar lock incident involved the same Chinese J-15 both times.

Japanese fighter jets had been scrambled to pursue Chinese jets that were conducting aircraft takeoff and landing exercises in the Pacific. They were pursuing the Chinese aircraft at a safe distance and did not take actions that could be interpreted as provocation, Kyodo News agency said, quoting defense officials, when the radar lock happened. There was no breach of Japanese airspace, and no injury or damage was reported from the incident.