China blaming Japan for fighter jet incidents ‘unacceptable’ – Tokyo

This handout photo taken on June 8, 2025 and received on June 12, 2025 from Japan’s Ministry of Defence shows a J-15 fighter jet from the Chinese aircraft carrier Shandong making an unusual approach to a Japan Maritime Self-Defence Force P-3C patrol aircraft that was conducting surveillance above the Pacific Ocean. Tokyo said on June 12, it had expressed serious concerns to Beijing after Chinese fighter jets flew “unusually close” to a Japanese military patrol plane in the Pacific last weekend. (Photo by Handout / Japan’s Ministry of Defense / AFP)

TOKYO, Japan — Tokyo’s defense minister said Friday it was “unacceptable” for China to blame Japan for close encounters between their military planes over the Pacific high seas last weekend.

Japan says recent Chinese military activities in the Pacific, where Beijing’s two operating aircraft carriers were sighted simultaneously for the first time, reveal its intent to improve operational capacity in remote areas.

Chinese officials have hit back, calling the carrier outings routine training.

Japanese forces must “through warning and surveillance show Japan’s will and capability to deter any attempt to change the status quo by force unilaterally,” the defense minister Gen Nakatani told reporters on Friday.

Japan says Chinese fighter jets from the Shandong aircraft carrier flew “unusually close” — within 45 metres (150 feet) — to a Japanese military patrol plane on Saturday and Sunday.

Also on Sunday, the Chinese jets cut across airspace in front of the Japanese plane at a distance that the patrol aircraft could reach within seconds, Tokyo says.

READ: Chinese jets flew close to Japan patrol planes, Tokyo expresses concern

On Thursday, Beijing offered its own explanation.

“The root cause of the risk to maritime and air security was the close reconnaissance of China’s normal military activities by a Japanese warplane,” said foreign ministry spokesman Lin Jian.

“The Chinese side urges the Japanese side to stop this kind of dangerous behavior,” he added.

Nakatani said Friday that “Chinese statements portraying Japan as the cause of the latest incident are unacceptable.”

Japanese military planes “never approach another plane as close as 45 metres,” he said.