China angered by Japan's increased jet scrambles
BEIJING
(AP) — China accused Japan of raising regional tensions with its
increased use of fighter jets to monitor Chinese aircraft that approach a
cluster of islands claimed by both countries.
China angered by Japan's increased jet scrambles
– 4 hrs ago- View PhotoAssociated Press/Kyodo News, File - FILE - In this Thursday, Oct. 13, 2011 file photo, Japan Maritime Self-Defense Force's P-3C Orion surveillance plane flies over the disputed islands in the East China Sea,
BEIJING (AP) — China accused Japan of raising regional tensions with its increased use of fighter jets to monitor Chinese aircraft that approach a cluster of islands claimed by both countries.
The remarks from Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Hua Chunying on Thursday came one day after Japan's Defense Ministry
said it dispatched fighter jets in response to Chinese planes 306 times
during the 12 months through March 2013, up from 156 the previous year.
Chinese aircraft have steadily increased patrols in the East China Sea,
where the Japanese-controlled islands are located. There has been only
one report of a Chinese plane violating Japanese airspace over the
uninhabited islands, called Senkaku in Japan and Diaoyu in China.
"We all know Japan has continuously provoked and escalated tensions
over the Diaoyus," Hua told reporters at a regularly scheduled news
conference.Hua said that China is firm in its resolve to defend its claim to the islands, but that it wants to solve the issue peacefully through dialogue and negotiation, a reference to Beijing's insistence that Tokyo at least formally concede that ownership of the islands is in dispute.
"What Japan needs to do is, not send more planes, but show sincerity and action and talk with China," Hua said.
Simmering tensions over the islands flared violently in September amid Chinese fury at the Japanese government's purchasing of three of them from their private owners. Japanese businesses were attacked in several Chinese cities and Chinese patrol boats were dispatched to confront Japanese ships in waters near the islands.
The outburst was more vehement and sustained than previous rounds of anti-Japanese sentiment that were grounded in Chinese resentment over Japan's brutal occupation of much of the country during the 1930s and 1940s.
However, the risk of conflict appears to have receded in recent weeks amid back-channel diplomacy and efforts to prevent a clash at sea.
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