Japan Rejects China’s Radar-Lock Allegations

(MENAFN) Japanese Defense Minister Shinjiro Koizumi on Wednesday dismissed China’s assertion that Japanese Self-Defense Forces aircraft targeted Chinese planes with radar during recent aerial encounters between the two militaries, a news agency reported.

Koizumi’s comments emerged after both nations issued conflicting accounts regarding their latest fighter jet interactions.

On Saturday, the Japanese Defense Ministry stated that Chinese J-15 fighter jets operating from the carrier Liaoning had locked radar on two ASDF F-15 aircraft above international waters to the southeast of Okinawa’s main island.

By contrast, on Sunday, the Chinese navy — without referencing any radar lock — claimed that Japanese aircraft "repeatedly approached and disrupted" the Chinese naval training zone and surrounding airspace, actions that it said "seriously endangered flight safety."

This situation unfolds amid heightened tensions between China and Japan following comments made by Japanese Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi on Nov. 7, asserting that a Chinese assault on Taiwan could legally represent a "survival-threatening situation," which might permit Japan to "exercise the right of collective self-defense."

Beijing issued strong criticism of these remarks, advising Chinese tourists to avoid traveling to Japan, suspending seafood imports, and delaying a planned trilateral meeting of culture ministers with Japan and South Korea.

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