Japan's military scrambled a record number of jets last year mostly in response to an increase in approaching Chinese aircraft, the government said Thursday.

Tokyo ordered its jets to the skies 1,168 times in the fiscal year through March, the defence ministry said, with 73 percent of the missions against aircraft either known to be or believed to originate from China.

"Activities of Chinese jets are on the rise in terms of their frequency, area, and duration," said Admiral Katsutoshi Kawano, head of Japan's joint chiefs of staff.

"Considering the modernising trend of the Chinese military, we expect this to continue," he told a press conference.

The total number of scrambles marked an increase of 295 from the year before, the ministry said, noting that none of the cases resulted in violations of Japan's airspace.

Japan and China are at odds over a set of uninhabited islands in the East China Sea that sit in rich fishing grounds.

The islands, known as the Senkakus in Japan and the Diaoyus in China, are a running sore in Tokyo's relations with Beijing.

Japan has administrative control of the islets but China claims they have been part of its territory for centuries.

The two countries have clashed diplomatically over their ownership, with both sides sending ships and aircraft to nearby waters to assert their claims.

Japanese officials believe China has been trying to analyse the capacity and response patterns of Japan's defence and coastguard personnel.

Tweet

EU's Mogherini to make first to visit to Russia
Brussels (AFP) April 12, 2017
EU foreign affairs chief Federica Mogherini will make her first official visit to Russia this month, with relations strained to breaking point by the Ukraine conflict and the war in Syria. She will also visit China and India next week, her office said in a statement on Wednesday. Most attention is likely to focus on her trip to Moscow on April 24, with ties in deep freeze over its suppor ... read more

Related Links
Learn about the Superpowers of the 21st Century at SpaceWar.com
Learn about nuclear weapons doctrine and defense at SpaceWar.com

Thanks for being here; We need your help. The SpaceDaily news network continues to grow but revenues have never been harder to maintain. With the rise of Ad Blockers, and Facebook - our traditional revenue sources via quality network advertising continues to decline. And unlike so many other news sites, we don't have a paywall - with those annoying usernames and passwords. Our news coverage takes time and effort to publish 365 days a year. If you find our news sites informative and useful then please consider becoming a regular supporter or for now make a one off contribution.
SpaceDaily Contributor $5 Billed Once credit card or paypal		SpaceDaily Monthly Supporter $5 Billed Monthly paypal only