The alleged airspace violation took place near the disputed Senkaku islands in Japan. Tokyo said it has registered a “strong protest” with China for what it called an “intrusion.”

Japan has accused China of violating its airspace around the Japanese-controlled East China Sea islands, that Beijing also claims, on Saturday.

China’s coast guard also alleged that a Japanese civilian aircraft violated its airspace around the contentious islands.

The islands, known as the Diaoyu in China and Senkaku in Japan — are claimed by Beijing but administered by Tokyo and often come up as a controversial subject in bilateral relations.

What did Japan say?

A Chinese helicopter flew within the Japanese airspace near the islands for about 15 minutes, according to Japan’s Foreign Ministry.

Japanese forces responded by scrambling fighter jets, the Defense Ministry said.

In a statement on Saturday, Japan’s Foreign Ministry said that its vice minister lodged “a strong protest” with the Chinese ambassador to Japan, “over the intrusion of four China Coast Guard vessels into Japan’s territorial waters around the Senkaku Islands,” on the same day.

The vice minister also protested “the violation of Japan’s territorial airspace by a helicopter launched from one of the China Coast Guard vessels, strongly urging [China] to ensure that similar acts do not recur.”

Japanese media including public broadcaster NHK reported that the incident was the first time a Chinese government helicopter violated the Japanese airspace off the disputed islands.

What was the Chinese version of events?

On the same day, Beijing said it had to use a helicopter to “expel” the Japanese airplane.

A Japanese civilian aircraft “illegally entered” the airspace of the islands at 11:19 am (0219 GMT/UTC) and left five minutes later, Liu Dejun, spokesman for China’s coast guard, said.

China registered its protest as well, saying it was “strongly dissatisfied” with what it called the Japanese violation of its sovereignty.

Beijing quite often says that it has expelled Japanese vessels and aircraft away from the islands. However, Japanese officials told the French AFP news agency that China announces expulsions when none have taken place.

Tokyo and Beijing’s bilateral relations are often strained by tensions in the East and South China Seas.

Edited by: Rana Taha

DW News