Senkaku Airspace Violation: China Claims Japanese Civilian Aircraft Intruded

BEIJING, May 06 (News On Japan) - China has pushed back against Japan's protest over a recent incursion by a Chinese helicopter into Japanese airspace near the Senkaku Islands, claiming instead that it was a Japanese civilian aircraft that violated Chinese airspace.

The incident occurred on May 3rd, when a helicopter launched from a China Coast Guard vessel flew into Japanese territorial airspace in the vicinity of the Senkaku Islands in Okinawa Prefecture. In response, the Japanese government lodged a formal protest with Beijing.

However, on May 4th, Liu Jinsong, director-general of the Department of Asian Affairs at China's Foreign Ministry, summoned Deputy Chief of Mission Yokochi at the Japanese Embassy in Beijing to assert that "a Japanese civilian aircraft entered Chinese airspace." China issued a formal complaint in return.

According to the Japanese Embassy, Yokochi firmly rejected the claim and reiterated Japan's protest over the Chinese helicopter's violation, urging strong measures to prevent any recurrence.

The China Coast Guard had also announced on May 3rd that a Japanese civilian plane had first violated Chinese airspace, prompting them to respond with a helicopter dispatch to drive it away.

Source: FNN

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