On June 11, the Japanese Defense Ministry announced two Chinese J-15 fighter jets made “unusual approaches” to the Japan Maritime Self-Defense Force (JMSDF) P-3C maritime patrol aircraft (MPA) for the second straight day.
The latest near-misses occurred as two Chinese aircraft carriers, the Liaoning and the Shandong, have been spotted conducting simultaneous operations in the Pacific for the first time.
A J-15 fighter jet from the Chinese aircraft carrier Shandong tailed a P-3C patrol aircraft of the JMSDF for about 40 minutes from 10:30 am to 11:00 am on June 7, the defense ministry said.
During this time, the J-15 fighter jet “made an unusual approach” to the P-3C patrol aircraft, with a horizontal distance of only about 45m with no altitude difference, it also said.
The Japanese MPA was conducting surveillance over the high seas of the Pacific Ocean.
Meanwhile, a Shandong J-15 carrier-based fighter crossed about 900m ahead of the P-3C patrol aircraft with no altitude difference for about 80 minutes from 2:00 pm to 3:00 pm on June 8, according to the defense ministry.
“As such unusual approaches by Chinese military aircraft could potentially lead to an accidental collision, we expressed serious concern and strongly requested that that this incident not be repeated,” the defense ministry said in a news release on June 11.
No damage was caused to JSDF aircraft or personnel, it added.
A spokesman with the Joint Staff Office of the Japanese Defense Ministry declined to confirm to Naval News on June 12 whether the same Chinese jet was involved in both incidents.
“We are seriously concerned that the abnormal approach of the Chinese aircraft could trigger an accidental collision. We will be implementing even stricter vigilance and surveillance,” General Yoshida Yoshihide, chief of staff of the Joint Staff of the JSDF said at a press conference on June 12.
“We recognize that (the approach) was intentional. If we relax our vigilance and surveillance, it will only encourage (the other side). We will firmly maintain our will and capability to deter,” Yoshida stressed.
Meanwhile, China’s Foreign Ministry Spokesperson Lin Jian said at a press conference that “China’s activities in the relevant maritime and airspace are fully in compliance with international law and international practices.”
“The defense departments of both countries are maintaining communication through existing channels,” Lin said.
“The close-in reconnaissance conducted by Japanese vessels and aircraft against China’s normal military activities is the root cause of maritime and air security risks. China urges Japan to cease such dangerous behavior,” Lin also said.
The last time Chinese fighter jets had close encounters with Japanese aircraft was in May and June 2014, when Chinese Su-27 fighter jets also flew abnormally close to JSDF aircraft that were on surveillance duty over the East China Sea. The Japanese government lodged protests against China following the incidents.
There have been many cases in the past where Chinese military aircraft have made abnormal approaches to U.S. military aircraft flying over the East China Sea and South China Sea.
For example, on 1 April 2001, a Chinese Navy J-8II interceptor fighter jet approached and collided with a US Navy EP-3 signals intelligence aircraft that was gathering intelligence off the coast of Hainan Island, China, causing the Chinese aircraft to crash. This raised tensions in U.S.-China relations.
More recently, a Chinese fighter jet flew within 10 feet of a U.S. bomber over the South China Sea on October 24, 2023, an “unsafe and “unprofessional” maneuver made all the riskier because it happened at night, U.S. Indo-Pacific Command said in a news release two days later.
From the Western perspective, Chinese aircraft have been engaged in threatening behavior toward military aircraft of the United States and its allies, including Australia and Canada, continuously. Witnessing the Chinese military’s high-handed and hegemonic behavior in the West Pacific and elsewhere, vigilance is growing not only in Asian countries but also in Europe, and the movement for a multifaceted security strategy against China will most likely intensify.
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This article was curated by memoment.jp from the feed source: Naval News.
Original article: https://www.navalnews.com/naval-news/2025/06/chinese-j-15-fighter-jet-flies-close-to-japanese-p-3c-mpa/
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