Tokyo: Japan on Thursday expressed serious concern about recent incidents in which a Chinese fighter-bomber made unusual close approaches toward Japanese Air Self-Defense Force (ASDF) planes over international waters in the East China Sea.
According to Kuwait News Agency, Vice Japanese Foreign Minister Takehiro Funakoshi conveyed Japan's serious concerns to the Chinese Ambassador to Tokyo Wu Jianghao over the incidents that took place on Wednesday and Thursday, the Foreign Ministry said in a press release. Funakoshi stressed that such actions could provoke accidental collisions and strongly urged China to ensure that similar actions do not recur.
Japan's Defense Ministry reported that a Chinese JH-7 fighter-bomber flew as close as 30 meters to a Japanese ASDF YS-11EB intelligence-gathering aircraft conducting surveillance over the East China Sea for about 15 minutes on Wednesday. A Chinese JH-7 fighter-bomber also flew close to a Japanese ASDF YS-11EB on Thursday for 10 minutes at a distance of about 60 meters, the ministry said. There was no damage to the ASDF aircraft or personnel.
Similar incidents occurred on June 7 and 8, when a Chinese J-15 fighter jet from the Navy's aircraft carrier Shandong flew as close as 45 meters away from a Japanese Maritime Self-Defense Force P-3C patrol plane at the same altitude over the Pacific Ocean for about 40 minutes.