This week, Chinese military aircraft approached Japanese military planes twice in the international airspace of the East China Sea. The Japanese government officially lodged a protest with China on Thursday (July 10), condemning the behavior as “abnormal” and warning that such close contact could lead to “accidental collisions,” demanding Beijing take measures to prevent similar incidents from occurring again.
The Japanese Ministry of Defense stated that a Chinese JH-7 fighter-bomber approached a Japanese Air Self-Defense Force YS-11EB electronic reconnaissance aircraft on Wednesday (July 9), with the closest distance being only 30 meters (98 feet) and maintaining proximity for about 15 minutes. On Thursday, the same aircraft approached again, this time for approximately 10 minutes. The incidents occurred in the airspace above the East China Sea, not entering Japanese territory and causing no harm to Japanese forces.
On Thursday night, the Japanese Ministry of Foreign Affairs issued a statement indicating that Deputy Foreign Minister Takehiro Funakoshi had expressed “serious concerns” to the Chinese Ambassador to Japan, Wu Jianghao, and strongly demanded that China cease actions that could “lead to accidental collisions,” urging China to ensure that similar behavior does not recur.
So far, China has not made any comments on the matter.
Just a month ago, Japan had protested another incident of “abnormal approach.” At that time, a Chinese military aircraft took off from the “Shandong” aircraft carrier and approached a Japanese P-3C maritime patrol aircraft in the skies over the Pacific Ocean, with two Chinese aircraft carriers operating simultaneously in the region for the first time. Beijing, on the other hand, accused the Japanese patrol aircraft of approaching the Chinese aircraft group and conducting reconnaissance on China’s regular military activities, demanding Japan to stop such activities.
According to international law and common sense, reconnaissance and surveillance activities between countries are considered normal and legal internationally, but such activities should maintain a safe distance.
Japan is deeply concerned about China’s accelerated military expansion, especially in the southwestern region of Japan. As early as two years ago, Chinese leader Xi Jinping “explicitly ordered” the People’s Liberation Army to strengthen the so-called “law enforcement operations,” particularly around the Senkaku Islands in the East China Sea (known as the Diaoyu Islands in China) to bolster Beijing’s sovereignty claims.
These islands are currently under Japanese control, known as the Senkaku Islands, while China claims sovereignty over them. In addition to the presence of military aircraft in the vicinity of the islands, Chinese coast guard ships also frequently appear in Japanese territorial waters or nearby waters.
The incident comes at a time when economic relations between China and Japan seem to be warming up, amid pressure from the United States on both countries regarding trade tariffs.
On Friday, Japan announced the launch of an “Animal Health and Quarantine Agreement” with China to pave the way for the resumption of Japanese beef exports to China. Since the outbreak of mad cow disease in Japan in 2001, China has completely banned the import of Japanese beef. There are high hopes for the resumption of beef exports, but a specific timetable has yet to be determined.