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Chinese warplane's monitoring of Japanese recon aircraft over China's East China Sea ADIZ lawful: spokesperson

Global Times

By Liu Xuanzun Published: Jul 13, 2025 11:56 AM

The Chinese warplane's monitoring of Japanese reconnaissance aircraft within China's East China Sea Air Defense Identification Zone (ADIZ) is legitimate and was carried out in a professional manner, the Chinese Defense Ministry said on Sunday after the Japanese side hyped the "close encounters." A Chinese expert stressed that it was the Japanese spy plane that came close to China for reconnaissance in the first place.

In response to Japanese Defense Ministry's claim that a Chinese military aircraft "flew unusually close" to a Japanese aircraft, Jiang Bin, a Chinese Defense Ministry spokesperson, said on Sunday that recently, a Japanese Air Self-Defense Force reconnaissance aircraft repeatedly entered China's East China Sea ADIZ for close-in surveillance, and the Chinese military aircraft lawfully verified, identified, tracked and monitored the move, with all response measures being entirely justified, reasonable, professional, and up to standard.

Japan's Defense Ministry claimed that a Chinese military plane flew "unusually close" to an Air Self-Defense Force aircraft on two occasions recently over the high seas in the East China Sea. The first incident occurred on Wednesday morning, when a Chinese JH-7 fighter bomber repeatedly approached a Japanese YS-11 intelligence-gathering aircraft, while the second close encounter took place on Thursday, when a Chinese JH-7 plane repeatedly flew near a Japanese YS-11 aircraft, Japanese broadcaster NHK reported on Friday.

This is not the first time Japan has hyped "unusually close" encounters between Chinese and Japanese aircraft recently.

In June, the Japanese Defense Ministry claimed that a Chinese carrier-borne fighter jet "flew unusually close" to a Japanese Self-Defense Force aircraft when two Chinese aircraft carriers operated in the Pacific waters simultaneously for the first time.

Jiang said on June 13 that the Chinese Navy's Liaoning and Shandong aircraft carrier groups were conducting routine training in the Western Pacific when Japanese ships and aircraft repeatedly approached, harassed, and even deliberately created maritime and aerial safety risks. The Chinese carrier groups' training activities were conducted in international waters, were not directed at any specific country or target, and fully complied with international law and international practice. The Chinese side's measures in response to Japanese ships and aircraft forcibly entering its training area were reasonable, lawful, professional, and restrained throughout the process, said the spokesperson.

Zhang Junshe, a Chinese military affairs expert, told the Global Times that Japan's hype over Chinese warplanes' "unusually close" encounters with Japanese aircraft is a clear case of "the thief crying stop thief."

Zhang noted that it was the spy reconnaissance aircraft that first conducted close-in reconnaissance near China.

The close-in reconnaissance and harassment by Japanese vessels and aircraft are the root cause of maritime and aerial security risks between China and Japan. We hope Japan will work with China in the same direction to foster a conducive atmosphere for the stable development of bilateral relations, Jiang, the Chinese Defense Ministry spokesperson, said on Sunday.