The Self-Defense Forces scrambled fighter jets after Chinese and Russian military aircraft conducted joint patrols around Japan, the Defense Ministry in Tokyo said late Tuesday, just days after Chinese jets locked their radar systems on Japanese aircraft in what Tokyo said were ¡°dangerous¡± maneuvers.
Two Russian Tu-95 nuclear-capable bombers flew from the Sea of Japan toward the East China Sea to join two Chinese H-6 bombers for a ¡°long-range joint flight¡± above the western Pacific Ocean off the coast of Shikoku, the Defense Ministry¡¯s Joint Staff Office said in a statement.
Four Chinese J-16 fighter jets joined the bombers as they made a round-trip flight between Okinawa¡¯s main island and Miyako Island, the statement added.
The ministry also said it had simultaneously detected Russian early-warning aircraft and two Su-30 fighters in the Sea of Japan.
Beijing¡¯s Defense Ministry said in a short dispatch that the Chinese and Russian militaries had ¡°conducted their 10th joint strategic air patrol in the relevant airspace over the East China Sea and the western part of the Pacific Ocean,¡± adding that the patrol had been carried out as part of ¡°the two militaries¡¯ annual cooperation plan.¡±
Defense Minister Shinjiro Koizumi said in a post to X early Wednesday that the ¡°repeated joint bomber flights by both countries signify an expansion and intensification of activities around Japan.¡±
¡°These clearly represent a show of force against Japan,¡± he wrote. ¡°This is a serious security concern for our country.¡±
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