China Sends Spy Plane Into Japanese Airspace. Message From Beijing or Mistake?

Japan has protested the violation of its airspace by a Chinese surveillance plane, in what it called “the first known case of the Chinese military’s incursion into its territorial airspace.” According to Japan’s Defense Ministry, a PLA spy plane briefly entered Japanese territory near Nagasaki Prefecture around 11:30 a.m. Monday.

The People’s Liberation Army’s (PLA) Y-9 surveillance plane briefly entered Japanese airspace for two minutes over the uninhabited Danjo Islands in the East China Sea, according to Japan’s Defense Ministry. China and Japan are engaged in territorial disputes over large swathes of the East China Sea.

In response, the Japan Self-Defense Forces (JASDF) sent fighter jets on high alert and issued a warning to Chinese aircraft.

The Japanese government has protested to China over the incursion. According to Japan’s Foreign Ministry, Japanese Vice Foreign Minister Masataka Okano summoned a senior official from the Chinese Embassy in Tokyo to lodge a complaint about the incursion and demand that such violations not occur in the future. China’s Foreign Ministry has not commented on the incident.

Although JASDF aircraft regularly warn of Chinese aircraft operating outside its airspace, this appears to be the first time one of its aircraft has entered Japanese territorial airspace. Such incidents are common near the Senkaku Islands in the East China Sea, which both China and Japan claim.

The incident, which occurred a day before White House national security adviser Jake Sullivan’s visit to Beijing, has sparked controversy. While military analysts say Monday’s airspace violation could be a message from Beijing that it is questioning Japan’s territorial boundary, the fact that it occurred near Nagasaki Prefecture and not Senkaku has added to the confusion.

“There is no doubt that a military aircraft violating territorial airspace sends a very strong message,” a senior Self-Defense Forces official told local media.

Many Japanese officials believe it was a mistake. “It would be understandable if it was the Senkaku Islands, but Nagasaki is a surprise,” a source close to Prime Minister Fumio Kishida told Japan’s Asahi Shimbun newspaper. Some in the Defense Ministry and the SDF believe the Chinese Y-2 plane accidentally took the wrong route and entered Japanese territorial airspace.

“After analyzing the Chinese plane’s route, we can assume that the sharp angle the plane took immediately after the airspace violation may have been caused by the pilot’s panic,” a military official told the newspaper.

The official believes the plane was likely collecting intelligence on two SDF air surveillance radar installations in the area.

“The plane that violated Japanese airspace this time was collecting information on the SDF’s radar frequencies,” the ministry official said. “It is natural to assume that the plane entered the airspace while focusing on intelligence gathering.”