A joint patrol by Chinese and Russian nuclear-capable bombers near Japanese airspace is a serious national security concern, the country’s Defence Minister Shinjiro Koizumi has said.
In a social media post on Tuesday, Koizumi wrote that two Russian Tu-95 bombers had rendezvoused with two Chinese H-6 bombers over the East China Sea.
These aircraft then conducted a joint flight around Japan from the airspace between Okinawa’s main island and Miyako Island in the Ryukyu chain to the waters off Shikoku in the western Pacific, escorted by eight Chinese J-16 fighters and a Russian A-50 airborne early warning and control aircraft.
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He said: “The repeated joint flights of bombers by both countries signify the expansion and intensification of their activities in the vicinity of Japan, and are clearly intended to be a demonstration against Japan, which is a serious concern for Japan’s national security.”
He added that Japanese fighter planes had been scrambled to protect the country’s airspace.
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Earlier, South Korea’s joint chiefs of staff said seven Russian and two Chinese aircraft had entered the country’s Air Defence Identification Zone without giving notification on Tuesday morning, flying over the Sea of Japan – also known as the East Sea – and the East China Sea.