This handout taken on August 31, 2024, released by the Joint Staff Office of Japan’s Ministry of Defense on September 1 and obtained via Jiji Press, shows a Chinese naval survey vessel entering Japanese territorial waters near Yakushima Island in Kagoshima Prefecture. Japan protested late on August 31 when a Chinese naval ship entered its territorial waters off the southern islands, just days after its first confirmed military aircraft entered Japan’s territorial airspace. (Photo by Handout/Various sources/AFP)
Japan on Saturday (Aug 31) expressed “strong concern and protest” after a Chinese naval ship entered its territorial waters, days after Tokyo accused Beijing of sending a military aircraft into Japanese airspace.
A Chinese naval vessel was seen entering Japanese waters near the southern Kuchinoerabu island at about 6 a.m. on Saturday (2100 GMT on Friday) and exiting southwest of Yakushima island about two hours later, the defense ministry said.
Following the incident, the Foreign Ministry conveyed “Japan’s strong concern and opposition” to the Chinese Embassy in Tokyo.
“Past activities by Chinese naval ships and others in the waters around Japan, as well as the recent intrusion into Japan’s territorial airspace by a Chinese military aircraft, have been taken into consideration,” the ministry said late Saturday.
Japan on Monday deployed fighter jets after a Chinese Y-9 surveillance aircraft made a two-minute incursion near the Danjo Islands in the East China Sea, which Tokyo condemned as a “serious violation” of its sovereignty.
China’s growing economic and military clout in the Asia-Pacific region and its aggression in territorial disputes — most recently with the Philippines — have unnerved the United States and its allies.
Last week, Japan’s Defense Ministry sought 8.5 trillion yen ($59 billion) for the next fiscal year, its largest initial budget request ever, part of the country’s five-year, 43 trillion yen defense building plan through March 2028.
The request includes funding for so-called standoff capabilities to strike remote targets with missiles and unmanned vehicles.
This is more than the ministry’s initial request of 7.7 trillion yen last year, but less than the actual budget of 9.4 trillion yen approved for the current fiscal year.