The defense ministers of Japan and China began talks in Laos on Thursday, the Japanese government said, as the Asian neighbors explore ways to stabilize relations amid airspace and maritime tensions.
Japanese Defense Minister Gen Nakatani and his Chinese counterpart Dong Jun held their first meeting on the margins of a defense ministerial gathering of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations and their regional partners in Vientiane.
The talks come after the Japanese government said Tuesday that China has admitted that one of its Y-9 military spy planes entered Japan’s airspace on Aug. 26 over the East China Sea. China said the intrusion was unintentional and caused by turbulence.
Japanese Defense Minister Gen Nakatani (L) and his Chinese counterpart, Dong Jun, shake hands ahead of their talks in Laos on Nov. 21, 2024. (Kyodo)
Despite Beijing’s explanation and a pledge to take steps to prevent a recurrence, Tokyo continues to maintain that the flight was an “airspace breach” and a “grave violation” of the nation’s sovereignty.
With regard to the East China Sea, Japan has also protested against repeated intrusions by Chinese coast guard ships into waters around the Tokyo-controlled Senkaku Islands, which Beijing claims and calls Diaoyu.
The two governments have agreed to continue to use their bilateral defense hotline when needed. The hotline was launched in the spring of 2023 with the aim of building mutual trust and avoiding incidents at sea and in the air.
It is the first Japan-China defense ministerial talks since Nakatani assumed the current post as a member of Prime Minister Shigeru Ishiba’s Cabinet launched on Oct. 1. The last such meeting was held in June in Singapore.
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