The Japanese Foreign Ministry has delivered a note to the Chinese embassy in Tokyo protesting “the intrusion of a Chinese survey ship into Japan’s territorial waters.” This is the first time that the Japanese Self-Defense Forces have detected a Chinese military aircraft in Japanese airspace.
The ministry expressed “deep concern” after the ship was spotted near Kagoshima Prefecture, southwestern Japan, early Saturday morning.
The Japanese Defense Ministry said the Chinese ship, which was confirmed to be in territorial waters at 6 a.m. local time, left shortly before 8 a.m., adding that it was under the surveillance of a Japanese military ship and aircraft.
Recently, China’s increased activity around Japanese waters and airspace and attempts to assert its influence have raised concerns among Japanese defense officials.
This comes after Tokyo protested after a Chinese military aircraft briefly entered Japan’s southwestern airspace on Monday.
For his part, Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesman Lin Jian said that his country “has no intention” of violating any country’s airspace.
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2024-09-02 01:26:19