TOKYO: Japan said on Tuesday (Nov 25) it scrambled aircraft after detecting a suspected Chinese drone off an island near Taiwan that has been drawn into a weeks-long diplomatic spat between Tokyo and Beijing.
The drone was spotted off Japan’s Yonaguni, an island where Tokyo is planning to deploy missiles in a move that has angered Beijing.
“We confirmed that an unmanned aerial vehicle believed to be Chinese, passed between Yonaguni Island and Taiwan on Monday,” Japan’s defence ministry said on X.
The regional Japan Air Self-Defense Forces “scrambled aircraft” in response, it said.
Beijing-Tokyo relations have soured this month, following remarks by Japanese Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi suggesting that Tokyo could intervene militarily in any attack on Taiwan.
The row escalated again on Monday when China slammed Japan’s decision to push ahead with the planned deployment of missiles on Yonaguni following a visit to the island by Defence Minister Shinjiro Koizumi.
China’s foreign ministry said the plan was a “deliberate attempt to create regional tension and provoke military confrontation”.
Koizumi pushed back on Tuesday, saying “the medium-range surface-to-air guided missiles planned for deployment are defensive equipment intended to counter aircraft and missiles invading our nation”.
“They are not intended to attack other countries, are deployed throughout Japan, and clearly do not heighten regional tensions,” he told reporters.
https://www.channelnewsasia.com/east-asia/japan-china-drone-taiwan-scramble-aircraft-yonaguni-island-5489291
