On the morning of December 7th, Japan swiftly disclosed the incident in which its Air Self-Defense Force jets were targeted by radar from Chinese military aircraft the previous day, reflecting the Japanese government’s recognition of the importance of the international public opinion battle. Taiwanese lawmaker Chen Guanting stated that China’s recent series of actions are escalating tensions in East Asia, and he urged China not to further push the situation towards a crisis.
Japan’s Air Self-Defense Force jets were targeted by radar from Chinese aircraft carrier Liaoning twice on December 6th. On the morning of December 7th, Japan first disclosed the radar targeting incident of “fighter jet to fighter jet.” At that time, Chinese military aircraft took off from the aircraft carrier Liaoning, while Japanese Air Self-Defense Force fighters urgently took off from Naha Airport to respond to the potential violation of their airspace.
Japanese Defense Minister Taro Kono lodged a strong protest with China on December 7th. The Chinese Ministry of Foreign Affairs responded late on the 7th, rejecting Japan’s representations on the spot and counter-suggesting, criticizing Japan for hyping the issue, “escalating tensions and misleading the international community.” Japanese Prime Minister Sanae Takai stated that such radar targeting poses a danger, and Japan firmly demands that China take actions to prevent similar incidents from happening again.
Taiwanese lawmaker Chen Guanting pointed out that China’s recent string of actions is deepening tensions in East Asia. From suddenly restricting Chinese group tourists from traveling to Japan, to significantly limiting imports of Japanese seafood on the pretext of inspection, and now the incident where Chinese J-15 fighter jets twice locked onto Japanese Air Self-Defense Force F-15 fighters over the open sea. China’s administrative pressures, economic coercion, and military provocations are occurring simultaneously, no longer isolated incidents.
Chen Guanting emphasized that Japan being locked onto by radar is not just a routine military encounter, but a dangerous act with hostile intent that is most likely to lead to miscalculations and accidental conflicts. China should not escalate the situation unilaterally.
He pointed out that on one hand, China is using outbound tourism as a policy tool by restricting group tourists to Japan, and on the other hand, applying pressure using seafood inspections. These measures have already disrupted regional economic and trade order, and now, with the provocation of Japanese military aircraft, neighboring countries will have to raise their guard and China’s credibility internationally will continue to decline.
Chen Guanting stressed that today it is Japan being targeted, tomorrow it could be any country navigating or flying in the Indo-Pacific region. He also noted that it is not Japan or Taiwan but China repeatedly taking multiple pressures actions that are disrupting the rules and changing the status quo.
He stated that only by making China understand the consequences of its actions can the situation in the region be prevented from sliding further towards danger. Taiwan will cooperate with Japan and likeminded countries to jointly uphold stability and security in the Indo-Pacific region.