China says it has ‘no intention’ of breaching any nation’s airspace after Japan claim

Beijing has ‘maintained communication’ with Tokyo after it said a Chinese reconnaissance plane made an ‘utterly unacceptable’ incursion on Monday

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Japan said a Chinese Y-9 reconnaissance plane violated its airspace on Monday. Photo: Japanese Ministry of Defence via AP

Published: 7:23pm, 27 Aug 2024Updated: 7:26pm, 27 Aug 2024

China says it has spoken with Japan and has “no intention” of violating any airspace after Tokyo claimed a People’s Liberation Army reconnaissance plane had made an “utterly unacceptable” incursion.

Chinese foreign ministry spokesman Lin Jian told reporters in Beijing on Tuesday that the two sides had “maintained communication through existing working channels”.

“I’d like to stress that China has no intention of breaching any country’s airspace,” Lin said.

Japan condemns Chinese military plane’s ‘totally unacceptable’ airspace incursion

It came after Japan on Monday said a Chinese military Y-9 reconnaissance plane had entered its airspace off the Danjo Islands – an uninhabited archipelago about 160km (100 miles) to the southwest of Nagasaki on the southern island of Kyushu.

The Japanese defence ministry alleged the PLA aircraft had crossed into the East China Sea islands’ territorial airspace – which extends 12 nautical miles from their coast – for about two minutes. It said fighter jets were scrambled in response, but there was no confrontation between the two sides.

Japan’s chief government spokesman Yoshimasa Hayashi called it a “serious violation” of Japanese sovereignty and a threat to its security, and said it was “the first confirmed and announced airspace incursion by a Chinese military aircraft”.

“We refrain from giving a definite answer as to the intended purpose of the Chinese aircraft’s action. However, China’s recent military activities near Japan have a tendency to expand and become increasingly active,” he said.