China admits plane entered Japanese airspace in August: Tokyo

By Anadolu staff

ANKARA(AA) - China has admitted that one of its military planes entered Japan's airspace in August but insisted it was not intentional, Tokyo said Tuesday.

The Chinese government informed Japanese officials that a Y-9 spy plane was hit by turbulence, prompting the crew to take evasive action that caused it to enter Japanese airspace over waters in the East China Sea on Aug. 26, Tokyo-based Kyodo News reported.

Tokyo had summoned Chinese charge d'affaires and lodged an "extremely serious protest" over the airspace intrusion, the first of its kind on record.

Japan previously confirmed two similar incidents involving a Chinese marine surveillance plane and a drone above waters near the Japanese-administered and Chinese-claimed Senkaku Islands in the East China Sea in 2012 and 2017, respectively.

The two arch-rivals have long been at odds over the Senkaku Islands.