Beijing, China: China and Japan are blaming each other for a close encounter between military jets over the East China Sea.
China's defense ministry said Thursday that Japanese F-15 fighters followed a Chinese TU-154 plane on a regular patrol Wednesday morning and got as close as 30 meters (100 feet). It released two videos on its website purporting to show the incident, which it said had "seriously affected" the safety of the Chinese plane.
Japanese Chief Cabinet Secretary Yoshihide Suga denied on Thursday that Japanese aircraft had approached a Chinese plane and said Japan stood by the version it gave on Wednesday - that two Chinese SU27 fighters had posed a danger to Japanese aircraft by flying near them. "Chinese criticism is irrelevant," Suga said.
On Wednesday, Japan lodged a diplomatic protest with Beijing over the incident and on Thursday the foreign ministry summoned China's ambassador.
Tensions between the two Asian rivals have worsened in recent years over a group of uninhabited islands in the East China Sea called Senkaku in Japanese and Diaoyu in Chinese. Japan controls the islands but China also claims them.
The two countries have increased patrols by ships and military planes to press their conflicting territorial claims. They had a similar incident on May 24.
"The latest incident occurred despite our strong protest and request for preventive efforts following the previous incident, and the government of Japan takes it extremely seriously," Japanese Deputy Foreign Minister Akitaka Saiki told reporters after meeting with Ambassador Cheng Yonghua.
China's defense ministry said Thursday that Japanese F-15 fighters followed a Chinese TU-154 plane on a regular patrol Wednesday morning and got as close as 30 meters (100 feet). It released two videos on its website purporting to show the incident, which it said had "seriously affected" the safety of the Chinese plane.
Japanese Chief Cabinet Secretary Yoshihide Suga denied on Thursday that Japanese aircraft had approached a Chinese plane and said Japan stood by the version it gave on Wednesday - that two Chinese SU27 fighters had posed a danger to Japanese aircraft by flying near them. "Chinese criticism is irrelevant," Suga said.
Tensions between the two Asian rivals have worsened in recent years over a group of uninhabited islands in the East China Sea called Senkaku in Japanese and Diaoyu in Chinese. Japan controls the islands but China also claims them.
Advertisement
"The latest incident occurred despite our strong protest and request for preventive efforts following the previous incident, and the government of Japan takes it extremely seriously," Japanese Deputy Foreign Minister Akitaka Saiki told reporters after meeting with Ambassador Cheng Yonghua.
Advertisement
COMMENTS
Advertisement
Did A Massive Dam In China Alter Earth's Rotation? The Truth Behind Viral Claim More Than 40% Of Japanese Companies Have No Plan To Make Use Of AI: Reuters Poll China Can't Defeat US If We Revive "American Dream": Vivek Ramaswamy World's Largest Isolated Tribe Makes Rare Appearance In New Footage "Sell Golgappas?": Kangana Ranaut On Shankaracharya's Remark On E Shinde Why BJP Lost Lok Sabha Polls In Uttar Pradesh - 6 Reasons In Party Report Bengaluru Blues: When Policies Clash With Progress PM Modi Chairs Security Meet Amid Rising Terror Attacks In Jammu 2 Soldiers Injured As Another Encounter Breaks Out In J&K's Doda Track Latest News Live on NDTV.com and get news updates from India and around the world.