Chinese Military Plane Breaches Japanese Airspace

Japanese officials said a Chinese military plane violated Japanese airspace on the morning of Aug. 26.
Japanese fighter planes scrambled to warn off the Chinese Y-9 reconnaissance plane, which had flown near the Danjo Islands off Nagasaki Prefecture. The Japanese Defense Ministry stated that no weapons or flares were used, according to local outlet NHK. The Japan Times reported that the plane continued to circle near the islands for some time after it left Japanese airspace.
The Chinese regime regularly flies aircraft in international airspace over the East China Sea, but the Japanese Ministry of Defense confirmed that the latest incident is the first time a Chinese military aircraft has breached Japanese airspace. The China Coast Guard has previously made incursions into disputed waters.
Tokyo has lodged a diplomatic protest. The Japanese Foreign Ministry stated that Vice Foreign Minister Masataka Okano also summoned a senior official at the Chinese Embassy in Tokyo on the evening of Aug. 26 over the incident to “strongly request” the prevention of any such future cases.
The Japanese lawmakers met with Taiwanese President Lai Ching-te on Aug. 14 and Taiwanese Minister of Foreign Affairs Lin Chia-lung on Aug. 15.
Shigeru Ishiba, former Japanese defense minister and a prospective prime ministerial candidate, joined the legislators at the gathering and said Japan and Taiwan should collaborate with the broader democratic community to avoid becoming “the Ukraine of tomorrow.”
The CCP has declared nearly all of the South China Sea as its own, a claim that the Permanent Court of Arbitration in The Hague rejected in a 2016 ruling.
The U.N. Convention on the Law of the Sea designates the 200 nautical miles off a nation’s coast as its exclusive economic zone. Vessels and countries are subject to maritime law outside of these zones.