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| Chinese BZK-005 UAV (File Photo) |
By Mira Rapp-Hooper
In recent weeks, the standoff over the Senkaku/Diaoyu islands has taken to the air.
On Sept. 9, manned Chinese bombers flew near Okinawa, but did not cross into Japanese airspace. The next day, a UAV, believed to be a Chinese BZK-005, was spotted near the Senkaku/Diaoyus, prompting Tokyo to deploy fighters to shadow the aircraft. A few weeks later, Prime Minister Shinzo Abe granted approval to the Japanese Ministry of Defense to shoot down any drones that ignore warnings to leave Japanese airspace. Then, on October 27, Chinese bombers and surveillance aircraft passed through the Miyako Strait en route to the Pacific, which Japan’s Minister of Defense called “an example of China’s aggressive expansion of its active range that includes the ocean.” And in the most recent development, a former PLA commander announced that Japan shooting down a drone would be considered an act of war.
Tensions have, of course, been running high between Beijing and Tokyo since the latter purchased three of the five islands in late summer 2012, and Beijing responding by increasing its maritime patrols of the waters around the Senkaku/Diaoyus. These recent exchanges in the skies should not, however, be taken as business as usual: the fact that the conflict is now airborne raises the potential for escalation beyond its already-uncomfortably-high levels.
Read the full story at The Diplomat