Japan scrambles jets after China aircraft ‘violates’ airspace

Japan scrambled fighter jets on Monday after a Chinese military aircraft “violated” Japanese airspace, the defence ministry said.

The Chinese aircraft was “confirmed to have violated the territorial airspace off the Danjo Islands in Nagasaki Prefecture,” the ministry said in a statement, adding it had launched “fighter jets on an emergency basis”.

China’s “Y-9 intelligence-gathering” aircraft entered Japanese airspace at 11:29am for around two minutes, the ministry added.

There was no comment from Chinese authorities.

Local media, including public broadcaster NHK, said the incident marked the first incursion by the Chinese military’s aircraft into Japan’s airspace.

The ministry said steps were taken by the SDF such as “issuing warnings” to the aircraft, but NHK reported that no weapons, such as flare guns, were used as an alert.

In response to the incident, vice foreign minister Masataka Okano summoned China’s acting ambassador to Japan late on

Monday, and “lodged [a] firm protest” with the official, as well as calling for measures against a recurrence, the foreign ministry said in a statement.

The Chinese diplomat said in response that the matter would be reported to Beijing, according to the ministry.

Japanese and Chinese vessels have previously been involved in tense incidents in disputed areas, in particular a chain of islets known as the Diaoyus by Beijing, and referred to as the Senkaku Islands by Tokyo.

The remote chain of islands have fuelled diplomatic tensions and been the scene of confrontations between Japanese coastguard vessels and Chinese fishing boats.

Beijing has grown more assertive about its claim to the islands in recent years, with Tokyo reporting the presence of Chinese coastguard vessels, a naval ship and