Japan lodges protest with China over 'unusual' air encounters, warns against accidental collisions
Chinese military aircraft ‘made unusual close approaches’ toward Japanese aircraft ‘conducting surveillance, monitoring operations over East China Sea,’ Tokyo says
ISTANBUL
Japan on Thursday lodged a protest with China over “unusual” air encounters between the military aircraft of two countries and warned against accidental collisions.
Vice Foreign Minister Funakoshi Takehiro expressed Tokyo’s "concerns" to China’s Ambassador in Tokyo Wu Jianghao, a Japanese Foreign Ministry statement said.
The statement said that on July 9-10, Chinese military aircraft “made unusual close approaches toward (Japanese) Air Self-Defense Force aircrafts conducting surveillance and monitoring operations over the East China Sea.”
Funakoshi emphasized that these actions might "lead to unintended collisions" and urged Beijing to "prevent such actions from happening again."
According to the Japanese Defense Ministry, a Chinese fighter-bomber flew as close as 30 meters (98 feet) to a Japanese military plane over the East China Sea on two straight days.
There was no immediate response from the Chinese side to the Japanese claims.
On June 7 and 8, Japan claimed that a Chinese J-15 fighter jet launched from the aircraft carrier Shandong flew as close as roughly 45 meters (nearly 148 feet) to a Japanese surveillance aircraft.
The Japanese government had expressed its "serious concern" to China and urged Beijing to take measures to avoid similar incidents in the future.
In response, the Chinese Foreign Ministry accused Japan of "coming close and spying on China's normal military activities," calling on Tokyo to stop such "dangerous actions."
Separately, Japanese Foreign Minister Takeshi Iwaya and Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi on Thursday met in Malaysia on the sidelines of the ASEAN foreign ministers meeting, amid ongoing tensions.
The two ministers stressed the need for dialogue to ease strained ties over trade, security, and maritime issues, according to a statement from the Japanese Foreign Ministry.
Iwaya expressed “serious concerns over the deteriorating situation in the seas and airspace around Japan” and China’s export curbs on rare earths.
Wang, according to the Japanese Foreign Ministry statement, defended China’s export rules. Both sides agreed to maintain communication and seek stability through diplomacy, it said.
