By Clint Richards
A near mid-air collision, and Obama’s new limited foreign policy, test Japanese defense policies.
Tension in the East China Sea between Japan and China spiked again this weekend as planes from their respective militaries came within 30 meters of each other. Japan’s Defense Ministry said two Chinese Su-27 fighters twice came within 50 and 30 meters of Japanese planes (an OP-3C surveillance plane and a YS-11EB electronic intelligence aircraft, respectively) as they were attempting to gather information, according to the Japan News. The incident occurred near an ongoing joint military drill between China and Russia, in waters over which Japan and China have overlapping Air Defense Identification Zones (ADIZ).
Both the Japanese and the Chinese responses to the incident were swift and inflammatory. “It was an extremely unusual situation for military aircraft of Japan and China to come so close to a collision,” a Japanese Defense Ministry official said. Defense Minister Itsunori Onodera called China’s actions “completely aberrant” and said that Prime Minister Shinzo Abe had instructed him to “take steps firmly” in response, according to Jiji Press. Onodera said that the Japanese aircraft were under no restrictions because they were over international waters, and that the Self-Defense Forces will continue their surveillance activities as before. He also claimed that the Chinese fighters were equipped with missiles at the time of the incident.
China quickly condemned Japan’s incursion into a no-fly zone area, which the Chinese and Russian militaries had issued days before the exercises began. On Sunday, the Ministry of National Defense criticized Japan for the move, saying it seriously violated international law and globally accepted norms, and “could have easily caused a misunderstanding and even led to a mid-air accident,” according to China Daily.
Read the full story at The Diplomat