China frigate locked radar on Japan navy
A Chinese military frigate locked its weapon-targeting radar on a Japanese navy vessel on at least one occasion, Japan's defence minister has claimed, as the bitter territorial row threatened to escalate.
Itsunori Onodera claimed that on January 30, "something like fire-control
radar" was directed at a Japanese Self-Defence Maritime escort ship in the East
China Sea.
Mr Onodera said a Japanese military helicopter was also locked with a similar
radar a few days earlier.
"Directing such radar is very abnormal," he said. "We recognise it would
create a very dangerous situation if a single misstep occurred.
"We will seek the Chinese side's
self-restraint from taking such dangerous action."
The move is an apparent ramping up of an already tense situation in the East
China Sea, where Asia's two largest economies are at loggerheads over the
sovereignty of an uninhabited island chain.
On Tuesday Tokyo summoned China's envoy in protest at the presence a day earlier of Chinese government ships in the waters around the islands.
No mention was made in the earlier announcement of the actions of any Chinese military vessels. It was not believed that the military ships had been in what Japan considers its waters.
"The foreign ministry summoned the Chinese ambassador over ships entering the waters near Senkaku islands," said an official, referring to a chain claimed as the Diaoyus by Beijing.
On Tuesday Tokyo summoned China's envoy in protest at the presence a day earlier of Chinese government ships in the waters around the islands.
No mention was made in the earlier announcement of the actions of any Chinese military vessels. It was not believed that the military ships had been in what Japan considers its waters.
"The foreign ministry summoned the Chinese ambassador over ships entering the waters near Senkaku islands," said an official, referring to a chain claimed as the Diaoyus by Beijing.
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