A Japan military fighter jet Photographer: Tomohiro Ohsumi/AFP/Getty Images A Chinese Y-9 intelligence-gathering aircraft entered Japanese airspace for two minutes from 11:29 a.m. local time near the Danjo islands, off the southernmost main island of Kyushu, the Japanese Defense Ministry said.
Japan summoned China’s acting ambassador to protest the incident and call for steps to prevent a recurrence, Japan’s Foreign Ministry said.
A flight path published by the Defense Ministry showed the plane circled the area near the Danjo islands before entering Japanese airspace, and then headed back toward the Chinese mainland. The incident was the first confirmed incursion into Japan’s airspace by a Chinese military aircraft, according to an official at the Defense Ministry, who asked not to be identified in line with ministry custom.
There have been two previous incursions by Chinese government civilian aircraft — one by a propeller plane in 2012 and another by a drone in 2017, the official said.
China had no immediate comment on the incident, which comes after Japanese media reported that a Japanese destroyer sailed into Chinese territorial waters last month, despite being warned by Chinese vessels.
Military tension between Japan and China often centers on Japanese-controlled islands in the East China Sea that China also claims. China frequently sends coast guard vessels to patrol nearby.