US Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth and his Japanese counterpart Shinjiro Koizumi jointly warned that China’s recent military activities actively harm regional stability, expressing serious concern during a phone call following a Chinese radar lock incident near Taiwan, Tokyo confirmed on Friday.
Chinese J-15 jets locked fire-control radar on Japanese aircraft that had scrambled in international waters near Okinawa twice last Saturday during routine monitoring.
In response, China’s foreign ministry on Wednesday strongly accused Japan of sending the jets “to intrude into the Chinese training area without authorisation, conduct close-range reconnaissance and harassment, create tense situations, and… maliciously hype up the situation.”
Escalating Tensions in the Region
This incident followed Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi’s controversial comments in November, during which she suggested that Japan would intervene with military force in any Chinese attack on Taiwan, angering Beijing which claims the self-ruled island as its own territory.
During their call, Hegseth and Koizumi “exchanged candid views on the increasingly severe security situation in the Indo-Pacific region, including the radar incident,” according to the Japanese defence ministry. They expressed serious concern over any actions that increase regional tensions.
Koizumi took to X to state that China was “disseminating information that is completely contrary to the facts” about the radar incident.
He added, “However, Japan has made clear that it does not seek escalation and that we are responding calmly while making necessary rebuttals, and we are keeping the door open for dialogue.”
Hegseth’s office confirmed they discussed China’s military activities. They also covered Japan’s efforts to increase its defense spending and strengthen its capabilities.
Series of Military Encounters
On Tuesday, two Russian Tu-95 bombers flew from the Sea of Japan to meet two Chinese H-6 bombers in the East China Sea before conducting a joint flight around Japan, with Tokyo scrambling fighters in response. A day later, Japan and the United States conducted joint air drills over the Sea of Japan, in “tactical exercises” that involved two US B-52 bombers, three Japanese F-35s and three Japanese F-15s.
Moreover, South Korea said on Tuesday that Russian and Chinese warplanes also entered its air defence zone, with Seoul deploying fighter jets in response.
Beijing confirmed that it held the patrols with Russia under “annual cooperation plans”, with Moscow describing the drills as routine and said some foreign fighter jets followed the joint formation for several hours.
