China criticizes Japan for close air encounters

ISTANBUL

China on Sunday criticized Japan over “unusual” air encounters between the military aircraft of the two countries after Tokyo lodged a protest with Beijing over the incident, state-backed Xinhua News reported.

Chinese Defense Ministry spokesman Jiang Bin said that recently a reconnaissance aircraft from the Japanese Air Force repeatedly entered China's East China Sea Air Defense Identification Zone to conduct close-range surveillance.

He noted that the Chinese military aircraft verified, identified, tracked, and monitored the move by the Japanese aircraft noting that Beijing's response "was entirely legitimate, reasonable, and conducted in a professional and standard manner."

The spokesman stressed that close-in reconnaissance and "harassment" by Japanese vessels and aircraft are sources of maritime and air security risks, urging Tokyo to "work with China to foster an atmosphere conducive to the stable development of bilateral ties."

The development came after Japan said on Thursday that on July 9-10, Chinese military aircraft “made unusual close approaches toward (Japanese) Air Self-Defense Force aircraft conducting surveillance and monitoring operations over the East China Sea.”

According to the Japanese Defense Ministry, a Chinese fighter-bomber flew as close as 30 meters (98 feet) to a Japanese military plane over the East China Sea on two straight days.