China’s incursion into Japan’s airspace

A new stress point in the Indo-Pacific emerged in late August 2024 as a Chinese electronic intelligence collection military aircraft, a PLA Y-9DZ, was identified in the Japanese airspace near the Nagasaki prefecture. While Chinese planes frequently appear in the international airspace around Japan, the country’s defence ministry described this breach as the first known incursion by China’s military into Japan’s territorial airspace.

Over the past two decades, Japan has increasingly faced foreign aircraft encroachments. In 2023, Japan’s self-defence force scrambled fighter jets to intercept foreign aircraft on 669 occasions, of which 479 were in response to Chinese aircraft sightings, according to Japan’s Ministry of Defence. In this recent instance, a map released by the Japanese Defence Ministry showed the Chinese aircraft, a Y-9 reconnaissance plane, flying in a rectangular circuit pattern off the eastern side of the Danjo Islands when it briefly headed west and crossed into the islands’ territorial airspace—which extends 12 nautical miles from the coast of the islands—for about two minutes.

According to the Japanese Government, in 2012, a Chinese maritime surveillance plane entered airspace around the Senkakus, and in 2017, a drone launched from a China Coast Guard vessel did the same.

China and Japan have been involved in a longstanding dispute over the uninhabited chain of islands in the Southwest of Okinawa. These islands in the East China Sea, known as Senkaku in Japan and Diaoyu in China, have been controlled by Japan since 1895. Yet China too claims the islands based on historical records from the Ming and Qing dynasties. While this was the first reported incidence of a Chinese People’s Liberation Army Air Force aircraft violating Japanese airspace, there have been two similar incidents near the Senkaku Islands. According to the Japanese Government, in 2012, a Chinese maritime surveillance plane entered airspace around the Senkakus, and in 2017, a drone launched from a China Coast Guard vessel did the same. Tensions heated up in 2012 after Tokyo bought some of the islands from a private Japanese owner, which Beijing took as a direct challenge to its sovereignty claims. Earlier this year, China has frequently dispatched Chinese Coast Guard and other government vessels to the waters around the islands to assert those claims, including having a Chinese presence near the islands for a record 158 days, according to the Japanese government.

Military analysts note that any incident involving China and Japan near the Senkakus raises the risk of a wider conflict due to Japan’s mutual defence treaty with the United States, as Washington has clarified on multiple occasions that it considers Senkakus to be covered by the Pact. While the airspace incursion can be a strategically calculated move despite protests and denials from Beijing claiming it was unintentional, the Chinese crew ignored warnings from Japanese authorities not to approach during the incident. They continued to patrol just outside Japanese airspace for several hours.

At a press conference on Tuesday, Japanese Chief Cabinet Secretary, Yoshimasa Hayashi observed that China’s military activities in the vicinity of Japan have become more active. The airspace breach was “not only a serious violation of Japan’s sovereignty, but it also threatens our security”, Hayashi noted. He also stated that the government will continue monitoring increasing Chinese military activity near Japan and is fully prepared for further incidents. The incursion could be a strategically calculated move aimed at weakening the US alliances in the region and testing Japan’s military response capabilities. It may also implicitly threaten Tokyo ahead of the upcoming leadership election or serve as a warning to European NATO members to reduce their increased activities in the Indo-Pacific. Additionally, the aircraft could have been deployed for a surveillance mission related to large US and Japanese naval facilities in nearby Sasebo, assessing Japan’s detection abilities and calculating the response time of its fighter jets. It may also have gathered intelligence on US naval and air units involved in joint military exercises with South Korean and British forces. Masataka Okano, Japan’s vice foreign minister, summoned China’s acting ambassador on August 26, “lodged a firm protest,” with the official, and called for China to ensure it does not happen again, according to a statement from Japan’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs. Japan further issued a formal objection after Chinese naval survey vessels entered Japanese waters on 31 August, the second incursion into its territory by the Chinese military in less than a week.

The defence ministry has also sought 8.5 trillion yen (US$ 59 billion) for the next financial year, which is its largest ever initial budget request, as part of the country’s five-year, 43 trillion-yen defence build-up plans through March 2028.

Tokyo is set to invest US$ 2 billion in developing a comprehensive defensive satellite network to enhance the country’s surveillance and reconnaissance capabilities. This network will include a constellation of advanced satellites designed to provide real-time data and imagery to improve monitoring and response abilities. The defence ministry has also sought 8.5 trillion yen (US$ 59 billion) for the next financial year, which is its largest ever initial budget request, as part of the country’s five-year, 43 trillion-yen defence build-up plans through March 2028. The request includes funding for stand-off capabilities to strike distant targets with missiles and unmanned vehicles. It is higher than the ministry’s initial request of 7.7 trillion yen last year but smaller than the actual budget of 9.4 trillion yen approved for the current financial year.

This incident undeniably violates international law, marking a significant escalation in China's assertiveness in the region. Until now, China has largely refrained from directly entering Japanese airspace, making this an alarming development that signals a more confrontational stance. The timing of the incursion is particularly noteworthy, as it occurred just a day before Jake Sullivan, the White House National Security Advisor, was scheduled to visit Beijing to discuss the Taiwan issue with senior Chinese officials. This suggests that the incursion could have been a deliberate signal to the US and Japan regarding China's growing dissatisfaction with Washington and Tokyo's increasingly vocal and firm positioning on the Taiwan crisis.

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Pratnashree Basu is an Associate Fellow, Indo-Pacific at the Observer Research Foundation

Raka Barman is a Research Intern at the Observer Research Foundation

 

• International Affairs
• Defence and Security
• China
• The Pacific, East and Southeast Asia
• air space violation china
• china japan relations
• chinese incursion japan airspace
• chinese military airspace violation
• chinese spy plane incursion

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