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Japanese officials said Wednesday they are closely watching to see if China keeps its promise to prevent further violations of Japan's airspace after explaining that an incursion by a Chinese military aircraft nearly three months ago was unintentional and caused by turbulence.
Tokyo protested and sought an explanation from Beijing after a Chinese Y-9 reconnaissance plane briefly entered Japanese airspace off the southern main island of Kyushu on Aug 26, prompting Japan's military to scramble fighter jets and warn the plane.
Chief Cabinet Secretary Yoshimasa Hayashi said China acknowledged the airspace violation and assured Japan that it would make efforts to prevent a recurrence.
“We take note of China's explanation, and we will closely watch Chinese military activity from now on,” Hayashi said.
China said the airspace violation occurred when the plane's pilot took emergency measures in response to turbulence in the area and was not intentional, Japan's Foreign Ministry said. Japanese officials did not disclose further details, such as when China provided the explanation, citing the protocol of diplomatic exchanges.
Even though aircraft can encounter turbulence, such a significant deviation from a flight route is unthinkable, Japanese officials said.
NHK public television reported that Japanese defense officials said they still find the airspace violation unacceptable because it was a serious breach of territorial sovereignty.
In Bejing, Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesperson Lin Jian did not confirm what Japanese officials said they were told. He said only the diplomatic and defense ministries of the two countries have been communicating on the issue and that “China has no intention of intruding into the airspace of any country.”
Japanese officials are concerned about China's growing military activity around Japan's southwestern waters and airspace. It has led Tokyo to significantly reinforce its defenses in the area, which includes remote islands that are considered key to Japan's defense strategy.
Japan is also worried about joint military activities between China and Russia.
A Chinese survey ship violated Japanese territorial waters off a southern island in August. In September, the Chinese aircraft carrier Liaoning and two destroyers sailed between Japan’s westernmost island of Yonaguni — just east of Taiwan — and nearby Iriomote, entering Japan's “contiguous zone,” an area just outside of a country’s territorial waters in which it can still exercise some control over maritime traffic.
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16 Comments
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sakurasuki
Just do like it always do, watch and complain but do nothing.
Jay
Chinese Communist Party: we definitely weren't spying on you, it was just an accident.
Same as our "weather balloon", and the same as how all of that land that we purchased adjacent to US military bases on American soil was just a coincidence.
And those highly fit Chinese men of military age crossing the Mexican border, they're just genuine asylum seekers.
We're definitely not spying. Trust us.
OssanAmerica
Too late and not highly credible. Typical China.
JJE
...after Tokyo flagrantly violated China's territorial waters with a destroyer.
deanzaZZR
Of course Chinese planes, ships and submarines would be nowhere near Japan if the USA military bases were not spread across SW Japan.
isabelle
Which Japan acknowledged as a navigational error (so, not "flagrantly" at all), then relieved the captain of duty.
Irrelevant. Japan can do whatever it wants with its sovereign territory, including hosting bases.
It is not an excuse for China to violate Japan's airspace. Or, for that matter, for China to build illegal bases in the South China Sea.
JJE
Navigational error... of course.
And the plane intrusion was due to turbulence.
The first was human error, the second a product of circumstances created by nature.
TaiwanIsNotChina
Start firing live rounds.
TaiwanIsNotChina
One does not follow from the other and the US has been there for 80 years.
JJE
Dean has a perfectly valid point. The US military presence in Japan is a major offensive provocation to the countries in the region, and all around the world. Tokyo needs to have a good, long, hard look in the mirror. Coming clean with the fact that Japan has been the aggressor which has assaulted China, and not the other way around, would be a good first step on the path to eventual sovereignty.
dobre vam zajebava
they do all the time or at least-its their duty to do so what now?
I dont get meaning of this line at all...
TaiwanIsNotChina
Russia compensating for what it stole would be a good first step on the path to peace.
JJE
Not possible for something to be stolen from a non-sovereign country.
isabelle
No, he doesn't. As I have pointed out.
No, it's a defensive measure, precisely to guard against major threats like China.
As long as China doesn't start trouble, the bases are not a factor as they do not impede lawful activities by China in any way. They are 100% legal under international law, unlike China's 100% illegal SCS bases - which are "a major offensive provocation."
The last time being around eighty years ago, under a completely different political system, driven by people who are long since dead.
And Japan has "come clean" and apologized many times.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_war_apology_statements_issued_by_Japan
Hence the military bases, and defense agreements with other nations: to make sure China doesn't attack Japan in the future.
deanzaZZR
Great work JT mods! I simply pointed out that Chinese planes, ships and submarines are off the coast of Japan because USA planes, ships and submarines are constantly off the coast of China. The connection there... think about it, is that the USA bases in Japan support these operations.
Apparently the raw truth is off topic. Deal with it.
TaiwanIsNotChina
Then nothing was stolen from russia in 1991.