A Chinese spy plane unintentionally entered Japanese airspace in August while taking evasive action after encountering turbulence over the contested East China Sea, Beijing explained to Tokyo.
The August 26 incident, which occurred off the Danjo Islands in the southwestern prefecture of Nagasaki and lasted for about two minutes, was the first such intrusion on record. The Japanese air force sent fighter aircraft to intercept a Chinese Y-9 intelligence-gathering aircraft.
The intrusion came after a Japanese destroyer sailed into Chinese territorial waters on July 4. It was tasked with spying on a live-fire exercise off China’s eastern province of Zhejiang and transited for about 20 minutes before exiting the waters.
Both governments in Beijing and Tokyo claim the Japan-controlled Senkaku Islands in the East China Sea, also known as the Diaoyu Islands in China. Chinese military aircraft have been operating around Japan, a security ally of the United States, on a regular basis.
China’s explanation of the aerial intrusion was revealed by Japanese government officials to the media on Tuesday, who said the incident was “a grave violation” of Japan’s sovereignty and “totally unacceptable.”
Newsweek has contacted the defense and foreign ministries in Beijing for comment via email.
Turbulence forced the spy plane to “take evasive action” that resulted in its entry into Japanese airspace for a short period of time, Beijing claimed.
“It was a technical issue and there was no intention to enter a territorial airspace,” the Chinese government was quoted as saying.
However, a Japanese official told the media that weather conditions at the time of the incident would not be have affected any flights and that Japanese fighter jets scrambled in response to the incursion did not report any turbulence.
Issei Kato – Pool/Getty Images
Following the incident, Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesperson Lin Jian suggested that the intrusion may have been unintentional.
“China has no intention of intruding into the airspace of any country,” Lin said at a press conference in Beijing on August 27.
Japan has established an air defense zone around the country, where its air force regularly scrambles to intercept Chinese and Russian military aircraft. The zone is not considered sovereign airspace, which typically ends 12 nautical miles from a country’s shores.
According to the defense ministry in Tokyo, Japanese fighter jets were scrambled 54 times in October to intercept foreign military aircraft suspected of airspace violations. Russian aircraft were involved on 22 occasions and Chinese planes 32 times.
