China and Japan conflict over fighter jet radar incident close to Okinawa

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Beijing escalated its disagreement with Tokyo after Japan stated Chinese language fighter jets aimed a fire-control radar at Japanese F-15s flying close to Okinawa, an motion Tokyo known as "harmful" and "extraordinarily regrettable."

Chinese language Overseas Minister Wang Yi informed his German counterpart Johann Wadephul in Beijing that "Japan is threatening China militarily," a stance he known as "utterly unacceptable," after the radar incident, Reuters reported.

Wang accused Japanese Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi of "making an attempt to take advantage of the Taiwan query — the very territory Japan colonized for half a century, committing numerous crimes towards the Chinese language individuals — to impress hassle and threaten China militarily. That is utterly unacceptable," Wang stated, in line with China’s official Xinhua Information Company. He added that Japan, as a World Warfare II "defeated nation," ought to act with higher warning.

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German Overseas Minister Johann Wadephul and Chinese language Overseas Minister Wang Yi attend a press convention in Berlin, Germany July 3, 2025. Nadja Wohlleben/Reuters (Nadja Wohlleben/Reuters)

China knowledgeable Gordon Chang informed Fox Information Digital, " China , with Saturday’s radar-lock incidents towards Japan and different belligerent acts just lately, appears to be like prefer it needs to start out a conflict. In any occasion, these incidents may simply spiral into conflict, particularly as a result of China can't act constructively or deescalate."

Japanese officers say the confrontation unfolded Dec. 6, when Chinese language J-15 fighter jets working from the plane provider Liaoning twice aimed radar at Japanese F-15s over worldwide waters close to Japan’s Okinawa islands.

"These radar illuminations are a dangerous act that goes past what is important for the protected flight of plane," Takaichi informed reporters, including that Japan had lodged a protest with China and calling the incident "extraordinarily regrettable," Reuters reported.

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Japan's Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi, whose warnings a couple of Taiwan disaster have angered Beijing, in Tokyo, Japan, Tuesday, Oct. 21, 2025. (Eugene Hoshiko/AP Photograph)

Japan’s authorities later stated the Self-Protection Pressure fighters "had been sustaining a protected distance throughout their mission" and denied China’s accusation that its jets obstructed Chinese language operations, in line with feedback by Chief Cupboard Secretary Minoru Kihara in line with the Associated Press .

The radar conflict got here on the heels of remarks by Takaichi which have already put relations in on edge. In early November, she informed parliament {that a} Chinese language attack on Taiwan may quantity to a "survival-threatening state of affairs" for Japan and probably set off a navy response underneath Japan’s 2015 safety legal guidelines, Reuters reported. Beijing condemned these feedback as "egregious," accused Tokyo of extreme interference in its inside affairs and warned of "critical penalties" in the event that they weren't retracted.

A J-20 stealth fighter jet of the Chinese language Individuals's Liberation Military (PLA) Air Pressure performs on the China Worldwide Aviation and Aerospace Exhibition, or Airshow China, in Zhuhai, Guangdong province, China Nov. 9, 2022. (China Day by day by way of Reuters )

Chinese language officers and state media have since portrayed Takaichi as hyping up an exterior menace to justify Japan’s navy buildup and nearer alignment with Taiwan. In parallel, Chinese language spokespeople have accused Japan of "hyping up" the radar incident itself and "intentionally making a false accusation" to construct stress, in line with official statements carried by Individuals’s Day by day and different Chinese language shops.

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J-20 fighter jets fly within the sky throughout flight efficiency on the aviation open-day actions of the Chinese language Individuals's Liberation Military Air Pressure (PLAAF) and the Changchun Air Present 2025 on Sep, 19, 2025 in Changchun, Jilin Province of China. (Photograph by VCG/VCG by way of Getty Pictures) (VCG/VCG by way of Getty Pictures)

Chang stated "China has not been in a position to get Prime Minister Takaichi to again down, so its decisions are to simply accept its humiliation or ramp up the disaster. It is going to ramp up. China is now proving Takaichi proper: Beijing is making a ‘survival-threatening state of affairs’ for Japan."

Efrat Lachter is an investigative reporter and conflict correspondent. Her work has taken her to 40 nations, together with Ukraine, Russia, Iraq, Syria, Sudan and Afghanistan. She is a recipient of the 2024 Knight-Wallace Fellowship for Journalism. Lachter will be adopted on X @efratlachter.