Japan scrambles jets to head off China plane
- Published: 5 Jan 2013 at 15.45
- Online news: Asia
Japan scrambled fighter jets Saturday to head off a Chinese state-owned plane that flew near islands at the centre of a dispute between Tokyo and Beijing, a Japanese Defense Ministry spokesman said.
This photo taken by Japan Coast Guard on December 13, 2012, shows a Chinese state-owned plane flying in airspace over the disputed islands, called Senkaku in Japanese and Diaoyu in Chinese, in the East China Sea. Japan scrambled fighter jets Saturday to head off a Chinese state-owned plane that flew near the islands, a Japanese Defense Ministry spokesman said.
Japanese jets were mobilised after a Chinese maritime aircraft ventured some 120 kilometres (74 miles) north of the Senkaku islands, which China calls the Diaoyus, at around 12:00 pm (0300 GMT), the spokesman said.
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