Beijing: China’s military on Tuesday released audio recordings that it says prove Japan was informed in advance of a carrier-based aircraft training exercise prior to a weekend incident in which Chinese fighter jets locked radar onto Japanese Air Self-Defense Force (ASDF) aircraft. The incident has further heightened tensions between the two Asian neighbors.
Japan has strongly protested the Saturday event, accusing Chinese aircraft of taking a hostile action by locking fire-control radar onto ASDF F-15 jets southeast of Okinawa. China, however, countered with its own protest, alleging that Japanese fighters conducted “frequent close-in reconnaissance and disruptions,” creating what it called a security threat.
Japanese Defense Minister Shinjiro Koizumi rejected China’s claim that it had announced the drills beforehand, stating that no standard notifications—such as NOTAMs (Notices to Air Missions)—were issued by Beijing, which is customary for such training activities.
China’s newly released audio allegedly captures a Chinese navy vessel announcing the flight drill in both Chinese and English. A Japanese defense ship is heard acknowledging receipt of the message.
According to Japan’s Defense Ministry, Chinese J-15 aircraft from the carrier Liaoning locked radar onto an ASDF F-15 twice—first from around 4:32 p.m. to 4:35 p.m., and again from 6:37 p.m. to 7:08 p.m.—while both sides were operating over international waters.
Sources familiar with the incident said the radar lock occurred from approximately 50 kilometers away during the first instance and more than 110 kilometers away in the second.
Radar locking is viewed as a potentially hostile act because it prepares an aircraft’s fire-control system for possible missile launch.
Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesperson Guo Jiakun defended the military’s actions, saying that activating search radar during flight training is a “common practice” among carrier-based aircraft worldwide and serves as a “normal measure to ensure flight safety.”
Japan’s Defense Ministry reported that aircraft aboard the Liaoning conducted around 140 training takeoffs and landings in the Pacific from Saturday to Monday.
The radar-lock dispute comes amid already strained relations following Japanese Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi’s recent parliamentary remarks suggesting that a Chinese attack on Taiwan could pose an “existential threat” to Japan and trigger a defensive response.