Japan has lodged a formal diplomatic protest with China after a Chinese Coast Guard helicopter allegedly violated Japanese airspace near the disputed Senkaku Islands in the East China Sea, alongside the incursion of four Chinese vessels into Japanese territorial waters, according to Japanese media reports.
The Japanese Coast Guard reported that the helicopter launched from one of the four Chinese Coast Guard ships that entered Japanese waters around 12:20 p.m. on Saturday and flew above the area for approximately 15 minutes. In response, Japan’s Air Self-Defense Force scrambled two fighter jets to intercept.
This marks the fourth reported airspace intrusion by China near the Senkakus, which are controlled by Japan but also claimed by China, which refers to them as the Diaoyu Islands.
Following the incident, Japan’s Foreign Ministry summoned Zhao Baogang, the Acting Deputy Chief of Mission at the Chinese Embassy in Tokyo, to lodge a protest and demand preventative measures. The ministry stated, “Such actions violate Japan’s sovereignty and are totally unacceptable.”
In contrast, Chinese state media Global Times presented a different narrative, claiming that a Japanese civilian aircraft had intruded into Chinese airspace over the Diaoyu Islands on Saturday morning. A Chinese Coast Guard spokesperson said that necessary measures, including deploying a shipborne helicopter, were taken to issue a warning and expel the aircraft.
China’s Ambassador to Japan, Wu Jianghao, also reportedly filed a protest with Japan’s Vice-Minister for Foreign Affairs over the alleged airspace breach by the Japanese aircraft.
The incident adds to rising tensions in the East China Sea, where both nations have long-standing disputes over sovereignty and regional maritime control.