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China handles matter in accordance with laws, says FM on reports claiming China fired warning shots at intruding Japanese MSDF vessel last year

Global Times

By Liu Xuanzun Published: Aug 11, 2025 08:54 PM

A Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesperson on Monday reiterated that the Chinese side will handle foreign military vessels that enter China's territorial waters without approval in accordance with the laws and regulations, after Japanese media on Sunday claimed that the Chinese side fired warning shots at a Japanese warship that intruded Chinese territorial waters last year.

The Japanese warship's intrusion is totally illegitimate, while the Chinese response is legitimate, professional and in line with international law and practices, a Chinese military affairs expert said on Monday.

When asked to comment on media reports that when a Japanese Maritime Self-Defense Force vessel mistakenly entered China's territorial waters off the coast of Zhejiang Province in July last year, the Chinese side fired at least two warning shots, and that the report claims that due to an operational error, the vessel's electronic chart failed to display the boundary between international waters and other countries' territorial waters, Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesperson Lin Jian said in a statement on Monday that on a Japanese Maritime Self-Defense Force vessel intruding into China's territorial waters in July last year, the Chinese side has already stated its position.

In accordance with relevant stipulations of Chinese laws, foreign military vessels must obtain approval from the Chinese government before entering China's territorial waters. For foreign military vessels that enter China's territorial waters without approval, the Chinese side will handle the matter in accordance with the laws and regulations, Lin said.

Lin's remarks came after Japan's Kyodo News reported on Sunday that Chinese vessels fired at least two warning shots at a Japanese Maritime Self-Defense Force destroyer in July last year when it "inadvertently" entered Chinese territorial waters off Zhejiang despite repeated warnings.

Citing unnamed diplomatic sources, Kyodo News reported that the Japanese warship Suzutsuki was tasked with monitoring Chinese military drills on the high seas. The report claimed that the rare move by the Chinese vessels suggests the two Asian neighbors were in a touch-and-go situation that could have escalated into a conflict.

Zhang Junshe, a Chinese military affairs expert, told the Global Times on Monday that no matter what excuses the Japanese side makes, the Japanese warship is fully to blame for intruding into Chinese territorial waters, ignoring China's territorial sovereignty.

As Japanese media has reported, the Japanese warship intruded into China's territorial waters despite China's "repeated warnings." This forced the Chinese side to respond more resolutely, Zhang said, stressing that it was a Japanese warship armed with weapons.

The Chinese response, as the Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesperson remarked, is in accordance with the laws and regulations. These include the Chinese military's combat regulations, international law and practices, Zhang said.

The Japanese destroyer's electronic navigational chart did not show the boundary between the high seas and other countries' territorial waters because a switch was not turned on, causing the Suzutsuki to enter Chinese waters without realizing it, the Kyodo News reported, citing claims by its unnamed sources.

The Japanese Maritime Self-Defense Force later dismissed the captain for negligence, according to Kyodo News.

Song Zhongping, another Chinese military affairs expert, told the Global Times that the Japanese warship was reported to have been monitoring Chinese military drills, so the incident might not have been a simple accident after all.

Zhang also questioned the explanation from the Japanese side. Even the Japanese report said the Chinese side had made repeated warnings, so there was no reason for the Japanese warship not to realize it was trespassing into Chinese waters. From the Chinese perspective, it makes sense to infer that the Japanese vessel was testing Chinese resolve, he said.

Japanese media hyped the incident a year after its occurrence, with the possible aim of hyping the "China threat" rhetoric by sensationalizing alleged warning shots by Chinese side, and making incident an excuses for Japan's expanding military ambitions that break through its pacifist Constitution, such as developing aircraft carriers and equipping them with F-35B stealth fighter jets, said Zhang. However, the Japanese seem to have forgotten that it was their warship that intruded into Chinese territorial waters in the first place, and forgotten that as an aggressor and defeated country in World War II, Japan is not allowed to develop aggressive weapons and equipment.