A Chinese military surveillance PLA Y-9 aircraft „violated” Japanese airspace, leading Japan to scramble fighter jets to intercept the spy plane, as announced by Japanese officials on Monday.
According to a statement from the Japanese Defense Ministry, the aircraft was in Japanese airspace for approximately two minutes at 11:29 am. Many Japanese news outlets, including public broadcaster NHK, report that this incident marks the first time a Chinese military aircraft has breached Japanese airspace.
There are several potential reasons for a surveillance aircraft like the Y-9 to enter Japan’s airspace. One possibility is to activate its radar and communications systems to collect data, a tactic used by US aircraft along the Soviet borders during the Cold War. Alternatively, it could be interpreted as a political maneuver, essentially signaling a disregard for territorial boundaries.
As of now, it remains unclear whether the incursion was premeditated, and China, uncharacteristically, has not issued a statement regarding the incident by the time of this report.
“I don’t rule out that China did it deliberately, but it is equally possible that the aircraft strayed inadvertently into Japanese airspace,” said Bonnie Glaser, a leading China expert at the German Marshall Fund of the United States, in an email.
During the incident, Japanese authorities issued warnings to the aircraft, which the crew disregarded, continuing to patrol just outside of Japanese airspace for several hours. Several media sources in Japan indicated that they had been shown a map detailing the plane’s route.
Masataka Okano, Japan’s vice foreign minister, summoned China’s acting ambassador on Monday night and lodged a “firm protest” with the official, demanding that China take measures to prevent similar incidents in the future, according to a statement from the foreign ministry.
A review of past incidents and media reports indicates that China has previously sent government — rather than military — aircraft into Japanese territorial airspace on two occasions, both involving disputed airspace near the Senkaku Islands in the East China Sea.
