Japan's Defense Ministry says it has confirmed the first-ever intrusion by a Chinese military aircraft into the country's airspace.
The ministry said a Y-9 intelligence-gathering aircraft entered the Japan's Air Defense Identification Zone over the East China Sea and was flying in the direction of Kyusyu on Monday morning.
The ministry said its Air Self-Defense Force fighters were scrambled to respond and radioed the Chinese aircraft not to get close to Japanese airspace.
It said that around 10:40 a.m, the Chinese plane started to circle over waters southeast of the Danjo Islands in Goto City in the southwestern prefecture of Nagasaki.
Then, around 11:29 a.m, it entered Japanese airspace from about 22 kilometers east of the islands and stayed there for about two minutes.
It left Japanese airspace at about 11:31 a.m. from the southeastern side of the islands.
After that, it continued circling the area. It headed for mainland China at about 1:15 p.m.
The ministry did not say whether it received any response from the Chinese aircraft while it all happened. It said the Japanese fighters did not use any weapons, including signal flares, for warning shots.
Ministry officials are analyzing the possible objective of the Chinese military flight, and are on the alert and monitoring Japan's airspace.
The ministry says it is extremely regrettable that the violation occurred. It says the government used diplomatic channels to strongly protest the act and urge Beijing to prevent a recurrence.
Chinese non-military aircraft have entered Japanese airspace before. A propeller aircraft of the now-defunct State Oceanic Administration was confirmed to have entered airspace over waters off the Senkaku Islands in Okinawa Prefecture in December 2012. A small unmanned aircraft also entered around the same area in May 2017.
Japan controls the Senkaku islands. The Japanese government maintains the islands are an inherent part of Japan's territory. China and Taiwan claim them.
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