Chinese Flybys Alarm Japan as Tensions Escalate
TOKYO - In an ominous display of growing territorial
tensions between China and Japan, the Japanese Defense Ministry said Sunday that
Chinese jet fighters had flown dangerously close to two of its reconnaissance
planes in overlapping air defense zones claimed by both nations.
The
ministry described two episodes that took place on Saturday in airspace over the
East China Sea that both countries claim as "air defense identification zones,"
areas bordering their sovereign airspace in which they require foreign aircraft
to identify themselves and provide flight plans.
Japan has routinely
ignored the Chinese air defense zone since Beijing declared it late last year.
China had also not pushed its new air zone, apparently backing off after the
United States immediately challenged the Chinese claim by sending a pair of
unarmed B-52 heavy bombers to fly through the airspace without incident.
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