Tensions between neighboring countries Japan and China continue to rise after Chinese fighter jets locked their radars on Japanese fighter jets on Saturday, Japan said. The Japanese Ministry of Defense sees the action as a provocation: when ‘locking’ the radar, the computer systems of a fighter plane ensure that a specific object is tracked, making it easier to attack, for example.
According to Defense Minister Shinjiro Koizumi, the military action took place over international waters near the southern island of Okinawa, AP reports. He speaks of a “dangerous” step and says he has protested to China.
Many aircraft today have technology that can detect whether they or other objects are being monitored by another aircraft with a locked radar.
According to Koizumi, China did this twice on Saturday, for about three minutes in the late afternoon and half an hour in the evening. The minister states that the action went further than “necessary for the safety of the aircraft”. It is, writing Japanese mediathe first time since 2013 that China has implemented such a radar lock against Japanese military aircraft.
Taiwan
Relations between the two neighboring countries have deteriorated recently following a series of incidents around Taiwan. In early November, Japanese Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi said the Japanese military could intervene if China took action against independently governed Taiwan.
Chinese authorities reacted angrily: China sees the island as a Chinese province that must ultimately be reunited with the mainland – for better or for worse. Attempts to reduce tensions through diplomatic channels appear to have little success so far.
A Chinese defense spokesman previously said that Japan would face “a devastating defeat” if it were to become involved in a military conflict around Taiwan. China also called on citizens not to travel to Japan due to “major risks to personal safety.”
A spokesperson for the Chinese navy denied the Japanese allegations to the Reuters news agency on Sunday. According to the spokesperson, the accusations are not based on facts and that Japanese fighter planes have disrupted naval training.
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