Chinese fighter pilots got abnormally close with two Japanese reconnaissance planes on Saturday in two separate incidents in overlapping Air Defense Identification Zones (ADIZ) claimed by both countries, the Japanese Defense Ministry said on Sunday.
Japan said the two episodes occurred on Saturday in airspace over the East China Sea that both countries claim as their own. These zones are areas bordering their own sovereign airspace in which they require foreign aircraft to identify themselves and provide flight plans.
The first flyby occurred when a pair of Chinese SU-27 fighters flew within 150ft of a Japanese P-3C. Later a pair of Chinese fighters also came with 100ft of a Japanese YS-11 plane.
Japan has regularly ignored China's new zone, which Beijing announced last year. China immediately backed off after the US sent a pair of B-52 bombers through the zone without incident.
China has confirmed the reports, but said that the jets were enforcing the ADIZ. All countries should just learn from China and extend their air defense zones to ridiculous sizes. That would solve the problem.
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