Chinese fighter jet flies close to Japanese SDF patrol plane

Alsharq Tribune- Zainab Hussin 

Japan's Defense Ministry says a Chinese fighter jet flew unusually close to a Japanese Maritime Self-Defense Force patrol plane that was over the high seas in the Pacific.

The ministry said on Wednesday that a Japanese P-3C patrol plane was followed by a Chinese J-15 fighter from the aircraft carrier Shandong for about 40 minutes on Saturday and 80 minutes on Sunday.

The ministry said a fighter jet flew in an area that was around 45 meters away from the patrol plane. It added that a Chinese aircraft passed in front of the Japanese plane at a distance of about 900 meters on Sunday.

The Defense Ministry released two photos of the J-15 fighter jet taken on Sunday. One image shows what appears to be a missile under the jet's left wing. The Japanese ministry says there was no damage to the patrol plane or its crew.

But the ministry says these kinds of abnormal approaches could cause an accidental collision. It indicates that it has expressed serious concerns about the matter to China and urged it to prevent such incidents from occurring again.

It has been confirmed that the Shandong was navigating about 550 kilometers southeast of Okinawa Prefecture's Miyakojima Island on Saturday afternoon, and within Japan's exclusive economic zone north of Okinotorishima on Monday.

In May and June of 2014, Chinese fighter jets flew abnormally close to aircraft belonging to the Japanese Self-Defense Forces that were on monitoring duty over the East China Sea. The Japanese government lodged protests against China following the incidents.