KYODO - Japan's Defence Ministry on Monday confirmed for the first time that a plane belonging to the Chinese military violated Japanese airspace, in the latest development that could fuel tensions between the two countries following repeated maritime provocations by China.
The Y-9 intelligence plane flew over waters off the Danjo Islands of the southwestern prefecture of Nagasaki, in the East China Sea, for about two minutes from 11.29am, prompting the Air Self-Defence Force to scramble fighter jets, according to the ministry.
Vice Foreign Minister Masataka Okano summoned Chinese Charge d'Affaires Shi Yong and lodged an "extremely serious protest" over the airspace intrusion, seeking to ensure a similar flight will never happen again, the Japanese Foreign Ministry said.
While it was the first airspace violation by a plane belonging to China's military, Japan previously confirmed two similar incidents -- involving a Chinese marine surveillance plane and a drone that had taken off from a China Coast Guard vessel -- above waters near the Japanese-administered, Chinese-claimed Senkaku Islands in the East China Sea in 2012 and 2017, respectively.
The two countries have long been at odds over the Senkakus and Chinese coast guard vessels have repeatedly entered Japanese territorial waters around the uninhabited islets.
The Y-9 intelligence plane flew over waters off the Danjo Islands of the southwestern prefecture of Nagasaki, in the East China Sea, for about two minutes from 11.29am, prompting the Air Self-Defence Force to scramble fighter jets, according to the ministry.
Vice Foreign Minister Masataka Okano summoned Chinese Charge d'Affaires Shi Yong and lodged an "extremely serious protest" over the airspace intrusion, seeking to ensure a similar flight will never happen again, the Japanese Foreign Ministry said.
While it was the first airspace violation by a plane belonging to China's military, Japan previously confirmed two similar incidents -- involving a Chinese marine surveillance plane and a drone that had taken off from a China Coast Guard vessel -- above waters near the Japanese-administered, Chinese-claimed Senkaku Islands in the East China Sea in 2012 and 2017, respectively.
The two countries have long been at odds over the Senkakus and Chinese coast guard vessels have repeatedly entered Japanese territorial waters around the uninhabited islets.
