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Tensions between China and Japan have recently escalated after a Chinese Coast Guard helicopter entered Japanese airspace near the disputed Senkaku/Diaoyu Islands.
Some shit you should know before you read: If you’re unaware, the Senkaku Islands—known as the Diaoyu Islands in China—are a group of uninhabited islands in the East China Sea that have been a long-standing source of territorial dispute between Japan and China. Japan maintains that it incorporated the islands in 1895 after determining they belonged to no one and has kept them ever since. China, however, asserts historical ownership dating back to the Ming Dynasty (1368–1640’s), claiming the islands have appeared in Chinese records for centuries and were only seized by Japan following the First Sino-Japanese War. The discovery of potential oil and gas reserves in the surrounding seabed in the 1970s intensified the dispute. Today, both nations claim sovereignty, with Japan asserting administrative control and China regularly challenging that control through coast guard patrols and diplomatic pressure.
What’s going on now: In a notable development, Japan has accused China of violating its territorial airspace after a Chinese Coast Guard helicopter, launched from one of four Chinese ships operating near the disputed Senkaku Islands, entered Japanese airspace for approximately 15 minutes on Saturday. The Japanese Ministry of Defense responded by scrambling fighter jets, while the Foreign Ministry issued a formal protest, calling the incident a “violation of Japan’s sovereignty.“
Vice Foreign Minister Takehiro Funakoshi lodged a “strong protest” with Chinese Ambassador Wu Jianghao, stressing that Japan “strongly urges [China] to ensure that similar acts do not recur.” According to Japanese officials, this was the first recorded intrusion by a Chinese Coast Guard helicopter in the area.
In response, China rejected the accusation and instead blamed Japan for the escalation, claiming that a Japanese civilian aircraft had illegally entered the airspace above what it considers Chinese territory. The Chinese Coast Guard said the plane, which appeared near the islands around 11:19 a.m., was “illegally” flying over their jurisdiction and that the helicopter was dispatched to “warn and expel” it. Liu Jinsong, director-general of the Chinese Foreign Ministry’s Department of Asian Affairs, stated that China was “strongly dissatisfied” with the Japanese action and demanded that Tokyo “immediately stop illegal activities [that] violate China’s sovereign rights.”
Chinese Ambassador Wu Jianghao also warned that “if the Japanese side takes new provocative actions, China will undoubtedly take resolute countermeasures to steadfastly safeguard national sovereignty and maritime rights and interests.”
This all comes as China has ramped up its territorial claims across the region, most notably in the South China Sea, where it recently staked a renewed claim to Sandy Cay—an area well within the Philippines’ exclusive economic zone (EEZ).
