Air incident escalates Japan/China tensions over disputed islands

/jpch-d15.shtml

  • Air incident escalates Japan/China tensions over disputed islands

    http://www.wsws.org/articles/2012/dec2012/jpch-d15.shtml
    By Peter Symonds
    15 December 2012

    The entry of a Chinese maritime surveillance aircraft on Thursday into the airspace around the disputed Senkaku/Diaoyu islands has further heightened tensions with Japan, which scrambled eight F-15 fighter jets and an early warning aircraft to intercept the plane. The small twin-engine aircraft, which went undetected by the Japanese military’s radar, left the area without a direct confrontation.

    The incident is a marked escalation of the island dispute both by China, which dispatched an aircraft to the area for the first time, and Japan, which responded with the heavy-handed use of force. Both sides have exploited the issue to stir up nationalism to divert attention from a worsening economic and social crisis at home.