A brief incursion of Japan’s southwestern airspace by a Chinese reconnaissance aircraft on Aug. 26 (Monday) prompted Tokyo to scramble fighter jets and issue a strong protest with the Chinese embassy, officials said.
Though Japan has scrambled fighters to intercept aircraft of the Chinese People’s Liberation Army (PLA) hundreds of times in in past months, it was the first time that a Chinese military plane had directly entered Japanese airspace.
According to the Japanese defense ministry, the Chinese Y-9 reconnaissance plane was detected flying over the Danjo Islands, near the main southern island of Kyushu, between 11:29 and 11:31 a.m. The aircraft circled over the islands before exiting the area.
The ministry said that the government had lodged a strong protest against Beijing through diplomatic channels.
Separately, the Japanese foreign ministry said Vice Foreign Minister Masataka Okano had summoned a senior official at the Chinese embassy in Tokyo to lodge a protest against the incursion and to strongly demand the prevention of such breaches.
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Reuters contributed to this report.
