Japan Protests Chinese Plane Entering Airspace
The Japanese government lodged a formal protest with China after a Chinese reconnaissance plane violated its airspace on Monday, prompting the scrambling of fighter jets.
The incident involved a Chinese Y-9 plane circling above Danjo Island, located off the southwestern coast of Kyushu, Japan's main southern island. The incursion lasted for two minutes, prompting the Joint Staff of the Japanese Self-Defense Force to analyze the situation and scramble fighter jets to warn the Chinese aircraft to leave the airspace.
The Japanese Foreign Ministry summoned acting Chinese Ambassador Shi Yong to convey a strong protest against the airspace violation. Vice Foreign Minister Masataka Okano demanded that China take preventive measures to avoid such incidents in the future.
This incident adds to growing concerns in Japan regarding China's increasingly assertive military activity around Japanese waters and airspace. The SDF scrambled jets nearly 669 times between April 2023 and March 2024, with approximately 70% of those scrambles directed towards Chinese military aircraft, excluding airspace violations.
The growing military cooperation between China and Russia further amplifies these concerns, leading Japan to significantly reinforce its defenses in southwestern Japan, including remote islands considered crucial to its regional defense strategy.