Japan’s most senior government spokesperson has said an unprecedented incursion by a Chinese military plane into Japanese airspace on Monday was “totally unacceptable” and a threat to national security.
The comments by Japan’s chief cabinet secretary, Yoshimasa Hayashi, follow an incident on Monday in which a Chinese Y-9 military reconnaissance plane violated Japanese airspace around the Danjo islands, a small uninhabited archipelago off the larger island of Kyushu.
“It was not just a severe violation of Japan’s sovereignty but a threat to our security,” Hayashi told a press conference on Tuesday, adding that Japan would take all possible measures to monitor and act against any future violations of airspace.