Beijing escalated its war of words with Tokyo after Japan said Chinese fighter jets targeted a fire control radar at Japanese F-15s flying near Okinawa, a move Tokyo called “dangerous” and “extremely regrettable.”
Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi told his German counterpart Johann Wadephul in Beijing that “Japan is militarily threatening China,” a position he called “completely unacceptable” after the radar incident. Reuters reported this.
Wang accused Japanese Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi of “trying to exploit the Taiwan issue – the area that Japan has colonized for half a century and committed countless crimes against the Chinese people – to cause trouble and threaten China militarily. This is completely unacceptable,” Wang said, according to China’s official Xinhua news agency. He added that Japan, as a World War II “defeated nation,” must act with greater caution.
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German Foreign Minister Johann Wadephul and Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi attend a press conference in Berlin, Germany, on July 3, 2025. Nadja Wohlleben/Reuters (Nadja Wohlleben/Reuters)
Japanese officials say the confrontation unfolded on December 6, when Chinese J-15 fighter jets operating from the aircraft carrier Liaoning twice targeted Japanese F-15s over international waters near Japan’s Okinawa Islands.
“This radar illumination is a dangerous act that goes beyond what is necessary for the safe flight of aircraft,” Takaichi told reporters, adding that Japan had lodged a protest with China and called the incident “extremely regrettable,” Reuters reported.
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Japanese Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi, whose warnings about a crisis in Taiwan have angered Beijing, in Tokyo, Japan, Tuesday, Oct. 21, 2025. (Eugene Hoshiko/AP Photo)
The Japanese government later said the Self-Defense Force fighters “maintained a safe distance during their mission” and denied China’s accusation that its aircraft were interfering with Chinese operations, according to comments by Chief Cabinet Secretary Minoru Kihara. the associated press.
The radar clash followed comments from Takaichi that have already strained relations. In early November, she told parliament that a Chinese attack on Taiwan could amount to a “survival threat” to Japan and potentially trigger a military response under Japan’s 2015 security laws, Reuters reported. Beijing condemned the comments as “egregious”, accused Tokyo of serious interference in its internal affairs and warned of “serious consequences” if they were not withdrawn.
A J-20 stealth fighter jet of the Chinese People’s Liberation Army (PLA) Air Force performs at the China International Aviation and Aerospace Exhibition, or Airshow China, in Zhuhai, Guangdong province, China, November 9, 2022. (China Daily via Reuters)
Chinese officials and state media have since portrayed Takaichi as an outside threat to justify Japan’s military buildup and closer alignment with Taiwan. At the same time, Chinese spokespeople have accused Japan of “inflating” the radar incident itself and “deliberately making a false accusation” to build tension, according to official statements by People’s Daily and other Chinese media.
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J-20 fighter jets fly in the sky during flight performance during the Chinese People’s Liberation Army Air Force (PLAAF) Open Day Activities and Changchun Air Show 2025 on September 19, 2025 in Changchun, Jilin Province, China. (Photo by VCG/VCG via Getty Images) (VCG/VCG via Getty Images)
Chang said: “China has not been able to get Prime Minister Takaichi to back down, so its choices are to accept its humiliation or intensify the crisis. The crisis will deepen. China is now proving Takaichi right: Beijing is creating a ‘survival-threatening situation’ for Japan.”
