This handout photo taken and released by the Joint Staff Office of Japan’s Defense Ministry on Aug. 26, 2024 shows a Chinese military Y9 intelligence-gathering aircraft that Japan’s Defense Ministry said “violated” Japanese airspace. Japan dispatched fighter jets after the aircraft entered Japanese airspace for about two minutes at 11:29 a.m. (0229 GMT) on Aug. 26, the ministry said. | Photo credit: AFP/Japan’s Defense Ministry
Japan, a close US ally, said it sent fighter jets on Monday (August 26, 2024) after a Chinese military aircraft “violated” its airspace, further fuelling regional tensions.
According to local media, the two-minute incursion into Japanese airspace by a Y-9 surveillance aircraft at 11:29 am (0229 GMT) was the first by a Chinese military aircraft.
Japan’s Defense Ministry said the plane “violated the territorial airspace of the Danjo Islands of Nagasaki Prefecture”, causing Japan to deploy fighter aircraft “on an emergency basis”.
It said steps were taken such as “issuing a warning” to the aircraft. Broadcaster NHK reported that no weapons such as flare guns were used as a warning.
The Defense Ministry has released a picture, according to which this is the aircraft.
Deputy Foreign Minister Masataka Okano summoned China’s acting ambassador late on Monday (August 26, 2024) and “lodged strong protests”, calling for measures against recurrence, the Foreign Ministry said in a statement.
According to the ministry, the Chinese diplomat replied that the matter would be reported to Beijing. There was no immediate official comment from Beijing.
made stronger
China’s growing economic and military clout in the Asia-Pacific region and its assertiveness in territorial disputes – particularly over Taiwan – have worried the United States and its allies.
Japan, for decades a staunch pacifist, has boosted defence spending with US encouragement, moved to acquire “counter-strike” capabilities and eased rules on arms exports.
Tokyo is also providing money and equipment such as patrol ships to countries across the region and in July agreed a deal with the Philippines allowing the two nations to deploy troops on each other’s soil.
Japan and South Korea have also taken steps towards forgetting historical animosity. Tokyo is also part of the Quad alliance with the US, Australia and India, which is seen as a strong bastion against Beijing.
Stressful events
Japanese and Chinese ships have been involved in tense incidents in disputed regions, particularly off the Senkaku Islands in the East China Sea, which Beijing knows as the Diaoyus.
The remote region has fueled diplomatic tensions and has been the site of clashes between Japanese coast guard ships and Chinese fishing boats.
Tokyo has reported the presence of Chinese coast guard vessels, a naval ship and even a nuclear-powered submarine in the area.
According to the report, two Chinese non-military aircraft – a propeller-driven plane and a small drone – entered the airspace near the Senkaku islands in 2012 and 2017. NHK,
‘Control measures’
The site of the latest incident, the Danjo Islands, are a group of small islands located in the East China Sea near the southern Nagasaki region of Japan.
Beijing claims almost the entire South China Sea – through which trillions of dollars’ worth of trade flows each year – even though an international court has ruled that its claim has no legal basis.
China said it took “control measures” against two Philippine coast guard ships that entered waters near the disputed Sabina Shoal in the South China Sea on Monday (August 26, 2024).
There have been several collisions in recent days around the shoal, which is located 140 km west of the Philippine island of Palawan and about 1,200 km from China’s nearest major landmass, Hainan Island.
In recent months, both sides have deployed coast guard ships near Sabina, where the Philippines fears China is planning to build an artificial island.
US National Security Adviser Jake Sullivan will visit Beijing for three days starting Tuesday (August 27, 2024) and will meet Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi to manage bilateral tensions ahead of the US elections in November.