Chinese military plane breaches Japanese airspace, sparks outrage

A Chinese military aircraft violated Japanese airspace, prompting a strong response from the government. "This is not only a serious breach of sovereignty but also a threat to our security and is completely unacceptable," said spokesman Yoshimasa Hayashi.

According to a report by the Japanese Ministry of Defense, a Chinese reconnaissance aircraft Y-9 violated Japanese airspace southeast of the Danjo Archipelago in Nagasaki Prefecture on Monday at 10:29 PM Eastern Time (11:29 AM local time).

This event marked the first time in history that a Chinese military aircraft had violated Japanese airspace.

The broadcaster NHK recalled that in 2012 and 2017, an aircraft of China's State Oceanic Administration and a Coast Guard drone, respectively, intruded into Japanese airspace.

"The government will continue to closely monitor China's military activities and will take all possible measures to ensure vigilant surveillance," said the Japanese government spokesman, emphasizing that the Chinese army's activities near Japan "have a tendency to increase in scale" and are becoming more frequent.

The Ministry of Foreign Affairs announced in its statement that Japanese Deputy Foreign Minister Masataka Okano summoned the acting Chinese ambassador in Japan and delivered a strong protest, demanding preventive measures to avoid the recurrence of such incidents.

A senior official of the Japanese Ministry of Defense, quoted by NHK, warned that the latest incident might be part of Beijing's broader strategy to threaten Japanese interests, both at sea and in the air. The official noted that in recent years, the Chinese navy and coast guard have made many intrusions into Japan's territorial waters.