A Chinese military spy plane violated Japan's airspace for the first time, Tokyo says
Japanese Defense Ministry
- Japan says a Chinese military intelligence aircraft violated Japanese airspace on Monday.
- Japan scrambled fighter jets in response to the unprecedented incident.
- Maps provided by the Japanese Defense Ministry showed the Y-9 aircraft's flight path.
Japan accused China of flying a spy plane into Japanese airspace on Monday.
China regularly deploys military aircraft into international airspace above the East and South China Seas, and into contested airspace, but this incident would be the first known time that one of its planes has directly violated Japanese territorial airspace.
Japan's Ministry of Defense reported the unprecedented incident on Monday, noting that the Chinese Y-9 intelligence-gathering plane briefly entered Japan's airspace near the Danjo Islands, located to the southeast of Nagasaki.
The Chinese military aircraft was in Japanese airspace for three minutes, from approximately 11:29am to 11:31am, per Japan's defense ministry. Japan's Air Self-Defense Force scrambled fighter jets in response, but they didn't fire any weapons or flares.
The Japanese defense ministry also shared maps of the Chinese Y-9's flight path.
Japanese Defense Ministry
Per the map, the Y-9 briefly enters the territorial airspace for the Danjo Islands before circling around to return to China.
Japanese Defense Ministry
In response to the incursion into its airspace by the Chinese plane, Japan warned China against further reoccurrences, with the Japanese Foreign Ministry saying Vice Foreign Minister Masataka Okano summoned a senior official from the Chinese embassy in Tokyo to discuss this matter.
China regularly operates military aircraft in international airspace, which international law allows. But Monday's event, per Japanese allegations, is the first publicly confirmed time a Chinese plane has entered Japan's territorial airspace.
The incident comes at a precarious time for Chinese-Japanese relations, which have warmed in recent months after years of tense territorial disputes and trade spats. After a meeting with his Japanese counterpart last month, Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi said relations between the two nations were at a critical stage.
"China's policy towards Japan has always maintained stability and continuity. It is hoped that the Japanese side will establish an objective and correct perception of China and pursue a positive and rational policy towards China," Yi told Japan's Yoko Kamikawa in July per a Chinese Foreign Ministry readout.
During their conversation, the two diplomats discussed various issues affecting the bilateral relationship, from the release of treated radioactive water from the Fukushima nuclear power plant last fall to matters relating to Taiwan.
Although Monday's incident marks the first reported airspace violation, tensions in the air have long been something of a strain on the Chinese-Japanese relationship. Between April 2023 and March 2024, Japan scrambled jets over 600 times, mostly in response to Chinese military aircraft.