TEMPO.CO, Tokyo - Japan has lodged a diplomatic protest with Beijing yesterday, after Chinese military jets teased Japanese military aircraft over the East China Sea. Defense Minister, Itsunori Onodera, said two Chinese-flagged SU27 fighters approached as close as 30 meters (100 feet) to Japanese aircraft on Wednesday morning.
Onodera said the jets posed a danger to the Japanese aircraft and a serious incident could have occurred. He later explained that the Japanese planes were inbound on a regular surveillance mission in international airspace.
The two countries have increased patrols, both by ships and military planes, in light of their conflict upon territorial claims in the East China Sea. The two Asian rivals are at difficult situation over a group of uninhabited islands in the East China Sea called Senkaku in Japanese and Diaoyu in Chinese. Japan has claimed to control the islands, in which China does the same.
ANINGTIAS JATMIKA | AP
