Japan decries Chinese military plane’s ‘totally unacceptable’ airspace incursion

Analysts said China was possibly probing Japan’s air defence network, seeking to obtain intelligence and putting pressure on Tokyo as it expands defence cooperation with the US and other countries in the region alarmed by Beijing’s behaviour.

“The violation of our airspace by Chinese military aircraft is not only a serious violation of our sovereignty but also a threat to our security and is totally unacceptable,” Japan’s chief government spokesman Yoshimasa Hayashi told reporters, describing it as “the first confirmed and announced airspace incursion by a Chinese military aircraft”.

“We refrain from giving a definite answer as to the intended purpose of the Chinese aircraft’s action. However, China’s recent military activities near Japan have a tendency to expand and become increasingly active,” he said.

The uninhabited Danjo Islands are a group of small islets also located in the East China Sea off Japan’s southern Nagasaki region, and are not disputed territory.

Tokyo has reported the presence of Chinese coastguard vessels, a naval ship and even a nuclear-powered submarine in the area, and there have been a series of confrontations between Japanese coastguard vessels and Chinese fishing boats.

Two non-military aircraft from China – a propeller-powered China State Oceanic Administration plane and a small coastguard drone – forayed into airspace near the Diaoyu Islands in 2012 and 2017, according to Japanese broadcaster NHK.

Japan, staunchly pacifist for decades, has ramped up defence spending with US encouragement, moving to acquire “counterstrike” capabilities and easing rules on arms exports.

Yee Kuang Heng, a professor at the University of Tokyo, said the Y-9 in Monday’s incident “was likely probing Japan’s air defence network, collecting electronic intel such as Japan’s radar signals and coverage”.

Naoko Aoki, a political scientist at the RAND think tank, said China may be seeking “to pressure Japan as Japan continues to try to both hedge against and engage with China to balance its security concerns with economic interests”.

“The area this happened could be of significance. China claims control over a large area of the continental shelf in the East China Sea, and China may be making a point, challenging Japan’s delineation method,” she said.

Additional reporting by Reuters