Tensions Rises Between Tokyo, Beijing After Fighter Jet Incident

(MENAFN) Tokyo and Beijing have traded accusations following at least two near collisions between their fighter aircraft amid Chinese naval drills.

The incidents have heightened concerns over safety in the region’s increasingly contested airspace.

Japan was the first to report the events, indicating that Chinese J-15 fighter jets had locked their fire control radars onto Japanese F-15J warplanes on two separate occasions on Saturday.

According to the Japanese Foreign Ministry, the confrontations took place over international waters southeast of Okinawa.

“These radar illuminations are a dangerous act that went beyond what is necessary for the safe flight of aircraft,” Japanese Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi told reporters on Sunday. She added that Tokyo had already filed a formal complaint over what she described as “extremely regrettable” behavior.

Beijing has dismissed the accusations, claiming that Japanese planes repeatedly approached and harassed the Chinese Navy while it conducted previously announced carrier exercises in the area.

“We solemnly demand that the Japanese side immediately stop slandering and smearing and strictly restrain front-line actions,” Chinese Navy spokesperson Colonel Wang Xuemeng stated.

He warned that China would “take necessary measures… to resolutely safeguard its own security and legitimate rights and interests.”

Relations between Beijing and Tokyo have worsened since Takaichi, Japan’s first female prime minister and a staunch conservative, assumed office in late October.

She asserted that any attempt by Beijing to use force to reunify with self-governing Taiwan could create a “survival-threatening situation,” warranting a military response under Japanese law. These remarks have provoked accusations from China of meddling in its internal affairs.

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