Japan Sends Fighter Jets After A Second Ever Chinese Invasion Of Its Airspace

Robert Johnson
BusinessInsider.com
Jan. 5, 2013

China’s first ever invasion of Japan’s airspace happened just weeks ago, but the move appears to becoming a routine addition to the burgeoning standoff.

The AFP now reports:

Japan scrambled fighter jets on Saturday to head off a Chinese state-owned plane that flew near islands at the centre of a dispute between Tokyo and Beijing, a Japanese Defense Ministry spokesman said.

The Japanese jets were mobilized after a Chinese maritime aircraft ventured some 120 kilometres (74 miles) north of the Senkaku islands, which China calls the Diaoyus, at around 12:00 pm (0300 GMT), the spokesman said. The Chinese Y-12 twin-turboprop later left the zone without entering Japanese airspace over the islands, he added. It was the first time Japanese fighter jets had been scrambled this year to counter Chinese aircraft approaching the islands, the spokesman said.

The Rest…HERE

This entry was posted on Saturday, January 5th, 2013 at 1:05 pm and is filed under China, War Without End, World Politics, World War 3?. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed.