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Japan's prime minister, Sanae Takaichi, committed to respond "calmly and resolutely" following reports that Chinese military jets acquired a radar lock on Japan's F-15s south-east of the primary island over the past weekend.

An Concerning Aerial Encounter Detailed

Per Japan's Ministry of Defense, Chinese J-15 fighter aircraft from the aircraft carrier Liaoning activated their targeting radar on Japanese F-15s on two occasions on Saturday. This occurred happened at 1632 hours and occurred again about two hours. Officials noted that visual confirmation could not be obtained due to the range involved, and confirmed that there was no damage or casualties resulted.

"It marked an unprecedented instance the Japanese defence ministry has reported such an incident," one news agency noted. Fighter jets routinely use radar for search and rescue.

Diplomatic Protest and Denials

Reacting to Tokyo's claims, China's navy released a statement dismissing the report as "completely inconsistent with reality." The statement urged Tokyo to "cease making false accusations." Instead, Beijing asserted that Japanese SDF planes had "seriously endangered aviation safety" by consistently approaching China's training zones. Beijing made no reference to a radar lock-on.

A spokesperson for the Chinese foreign ministry later urged Japan to "halt its dangerous moves of harassing our routine military exercise and training."

Rising Strains and Broader Context

Ties between Beijing and Tokyo have soured markedly over the past month. The downturn came after PM Takaichi remarked that hostilities against Taiwan might trigger the dispatch of Japanese Self-Defense Forces should the situation presented an extreme danger to Japan.

She argued that Tokyo had the right to invoke its right to collective self-defence, meaning assisting a partner under attack. She stated that her country had to "prepare for a worst-case scenario" in the Taiwan Strait.

Japan's Defense Minister, Shinjiro Koizumi, described the encounter as "dangerous and extremely regrettable." In a diplomatic move, the Chinese ambassador to Japan, Wu Jianghao, was called in the following day.

Japan's vice minister for foreign affairs, Funakoshi Takehiro, lodged a "formal complaint" and urged the Chinese government to "guarantee that similar actions do not recur."

Longstanding Disputes

Japan and China are also locked in a protracted sovereignty disagreement over a group of islands, which are known as the Diaoyu by Beijing. These tiny, unoccupied islands lie in waters between Okinawa and Taiwan.

Additionally, regional frictions persist. Tokyo is deepening cooperation with American and other allies in the Indo-Pacific area, a region where a number of countries have similar territorial and maritime disputes with Beijing.

China, for its part, maintains vast territorial claims in the South China Sea, a posture that has drawn international concern.