China-Japan dispute flares up after ‘ultranationalists’ fly plane over Diaoyu Islands

Beijing blames extremist ‘activists’ for an incident over the disputed territory that prompted a flurry of diplomatic protests

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The small, uninhabited islands are a major source of friction. Photo: Reuters

Published: 2:23pm, 4 May 2025Updated: 7:15pm, 4 May 2025

China and Japan have traded barbs after a plane allegedly piloted by extreme Japanese nationalists flew over a disputed island in the East China Sea – a long-running source of tension between the two countries.

The Chinese coastguard said a routine patrol had spotted a Japanese civilian plane flying “illegally” over the airspace of an unnamed island in the Diaoyu chain, known as the Senkakus in Japan, on Saturday morning.

It added that the aircraft left the area five minutes later, and the patrol sent a helicopter to warn and expel the aircraft.

The Chinese foreign ministry said on Sunday that the plane had been flown by “ultranationalist activists” and that Liu Jinsong, head of the ministry’s Asian affairs department, had lodged a protest at the Japanese embassy.

Liu urged “the Japanese side to immediately stop illegal activities which violate China’s sovereign rights and take measures to prevent similar incidents”, the ministry added.

Wu Jianghao, the Chinese ambassador to Japan, made a similar protest over the “illegal intrusion”, saying the move severely violated China’s sovereignty, and added that Beijing would “resolutely take countermeasures” in the event of any “new provocative moves”.

Meanwhile Tokyo lodged its own protest with Beijing, saying four Chinese coastguard ships had been spotted in its “territorial waters” around the islands.

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