Tokyo (Reuters) – Japan said on Sunday that Chinese fighter jets pointed their radars at Japanese military aircraft in two “dangerous” incidents near the Japanese islands of Okinawa, an account disputed by Beijing.
“These radar illuminations are a dangerous act that went beyond what is necessary for the safe flight of aircraft,” Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi told reporters, adding that Japan had lodged a protest with China over Saturday’s “extremely regrettable” incident.
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Defense Minister Shinjiro Koizumi, meeting with Australian Defense Minister Richard Marles in Tokyo, said Japan would respond “resolutely and calmly” to China’s conduct to maintain regional peace and stability.
But a Chinese navy spokesman, Col. Wang Xuemeng, said Japanese aircraft repeatedly approached and disrupted the Chinese navy as it carried out previously announced carrier-based flight training east of the Miyako Strait.
