Tokyo lodges strong protest with China over helicopter airspace violation, intrusion by vessels into territorial waters

 TOKYO, May 4 — Japan has lodged a formal protest with China after a Chinese helicopter allegedly entered Japanese airspace and four vessels intruded into its territorial waters near disputed islands in the East China Sea.

The contested islands — known as the Senkaku in Japan and Diaoyu in China — are administered by Tokyo but claimed by Beijing, often serving as a flashpoint in bilateral relations.

In a statement released late Saturday, Japan’s foreign ministry said its vice minister issued “a strong protest” to the Chinese ambassador in Tokyo over the incursion by four China Coast Guard vessels into waters surrounding the Senkaku Islands.

The protest also addressed what Japan described as a territorial airspace violation by a helicopter launched from one of the Chinese vessels. Tokyo called on Beijing to prevent a recurrence of such incidents.

Japan’s defence ministry reported that the helicopter entered Japanese airspace for roughly 15 minutes near the Senkaku Islands on Saturday, prompting the scrambling of fighter jets in response.

According to NHK and other Japanese media, this marks the first known breach of Japanese airspace by a Chinese government helicopter in the disputed area.

On the same day, China’s coast guard claimed it had deployed a helicopter to "expel" a Japanese aircraft from the airspace around the islands. Chinese coast guard spokesperson Liu Dejun said the Japanese civilian plane had "illegally entered" the airspace at 11.19am (GMT 0219) and exited five minutes later.

Japanese officials, however, told AFP that such Chinese announcements are sometimes made even when no incident has occurred. Local reports suggested that Beijing may have been responding to the presence of a small Japanese civilian aircraft near the area.

Maritime confrontations between Chinese and Japanese patrol vessels in the East China Sea are a regular occurrence.

Rising tensions in the East and South China Seas have led Japan to strengthen its security ties with the Philippines and the United States. — AFP