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Japan’s most senior government spokesperson has said an unprecedented incursion by a Chinese military plane into Japanese airspace on Monday was “totally unacceptable” and a threat to national security.
The comments by Japan’s chief cabinet secretary, Yoshimasa Hayashi, follow an incident on Monday in which a Chinese Y-9 military reconnaissance plane violated Japanese airspace around the Danjo islands, a small uninhabited archipelago off the larger island of Kyushu.
“It was not just a severe violation of Japan’s sovereignty but a threat to our security,” Hayashi told a press conference on Tuesday, adding that Japan would take all possible measures to monitor and act against any future violations of airspace.
Perceptions of a steadily rising threat from China were central to Japan’s decision in 2022 to begin a significant increase in defence spending. In a national security strategy document published that year, Japan described the regional security environment as being “as severe and complex” as it had ever been since the end of the second world war.
Tokyo is now targeting a defence-related budget equating to 2 per cent of GDP by 2027. Part of the increased spending has been funnelled towards reinforcing Japan’s outlying islands, which are viewed as a key part of the national defence strategy.
Although Chinese civilian aircraft have previously entered Japanese airspace without permission, a defence ministry official said it was the first time a Chinese military plane had done so. Japanese fighters were scrambled on Monday in response to the incursion, which lasted for approximately two minutes.
Japan’s military said earlier this year that it had scrambled jets on more than 660 occasions in the 12 months that ended in March 2024. Roughly two-thirds of those were in response to activities by Chinese aircraft or ships.
Within a few hours of the incident, Japan summoned the acting Chinese ambassador in Tokyo to lodge what foreign ministry officials said was an “extremely severe protest” and demanded that measures be taken to ensure no repeat of the incursion.
Stephen Nagy, a professor of politics and international studies at the International Christian University in Tokyo, said Monday’s incursion reflected a “tit for tat” mentality in Beijing because of China’s perception of Washington’s recent activities in the region, including strengthening relations with Taiwan and the Philippines. “This was a reciprocation,” said Nagy, “not an escalation.”
A Chinese foreign ministry spokesperson on Tuesday said the two sides were in touch with each other through an “existing channel”.
“I’d like to stress that China has no intention to breach any country’s airspace,” he said, adding that “relevant departments in China are verifying what happened”.
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