TOKYO (Reuters) – Japan’s defence ministry said it had scrambled jets against a Chinese reconnaissance aircraft that had breached its airspace for a few minutes on Monday morning.
The ministry said it was the first time for a Chinese military aircraft to breach Japan’s airspace, adding that the government had lodged a strong protest against Beijing through diplomatic channels.
The aircraft was identified as a Y-9 reconnaissance plane that flew over the Danjo Islands to the west of the southern island of Kyushu between around 11:29 a.m. and 11:31 a.m.
(Reporting by Satoshi Sugiyama, Kiyoshi Takenaka, Kaori Kaneko; Editing by Chang-Ran Kim)
