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The Japanese leader, Sanae Takaichi, vowed to act "with calm determination" after claims that People's Liberation Army jets targeted with fire-control radar Japanese F-15s southeast of the primary island during the past weekend.

An Serious Aerial Encounter Disclosed

As stated by Japan's defence ministry, Chinese J-15 jets from the aircraft carrier Liaoning activated their fire-control radar against Japan's F-15s twice on Saturday. This occurred took place at 1632 hours and was repeated about two hours. Officials noted that a visual sighting was not possible because of the distance, and confirmed that no damage or injuries occurred.

"This was an unprecedented instance Japan's Ministry of Defense has reported an event of this nature," a report noted. Fighter jets commonly use radar for tracking purposes.

Diplomatic Objection and Denials

Reacting to Tokyo's claims, the Chinese navy released a statement rejecting the report as "completely inconsistent with the facts." The statement urged Tokyo to "immediately stop slandering and smearing." Instead, Beijing claimed that Japanese Self-Defense Forces planes had "posed a grave risk to flight safety" by consistently flying near China's exercise areas. Beijing did not mention a radar lock-on.

An official for the Chinese Ministry of Foreign Affairs subsequently called on Japan to "immediately stop its dangerous moves of interfering with our normal military exercise and training."

Escalating Strains and Broader Context

Relations linking China and Japan have deteriorated markedly in recent weeks. This cooling came after PM Takaichi stated that an attack on Taiwan might trigger the deployment of Japanese military should such a conflict posed an extreme danger to the nation.

She insisted that Japan could invoke its right to collective defense, meaning assisting an ally. She stated that Japan had to "anticipate a worst-case scenario" regarding the Taiwan Strait.

The Japanese defence minister, Shinjiro Koizumi, described the radar incident as "dangerous and extremely regrettable." Subsequently, China's ambassador to Japan, Wu Jianghao, was called in on Sunday.

Japan's vice-foreign minister, Funakoshi Takehiro, made a "formal complaint" and demanded the Chinese government to "guarantee that similar actions do not recur."

Longstanding Points of Contention

Japan and China are also locked in a protracted territorial dispute over the Senkaku Islands, called the Diaoyu in China. The tiny, unoccupied islands lie in waters between Okinawa and Taiwan.

Additionally, broader geopolitical frictions continue. Japan is strengthening military and strategic ties with American and its allies in the Asia-Pacific region, where a number of nations have similar territorial and maritime disagreements with China.

China, in turn, asserts vast sovereignty claims in the South China Sea, activities that has drawn criticism and legal challenges.