Japan asks China to clarify whether the flying objects identified over its airspace were Chinese

15 Feb. (EUROPA PRESS) –

The Government of Japan “firmly” presumes that the balloon-shaped flying objects identified by the Japanese authorities in previous years belong to China, which is why it has asked Beijing to clarify whether they belong to it.

One day after the Japanese Ministry of Defense confirmed that the Japan Army Self-Defense Forces detected unidentified objects over its airspace in the years 2020, 2021 and 2022, the Japanese authorities have concluded that they came from China, all this after carrying out an exhaustive analysis, as reported by the NHK agency.

For this reason, Tokyo has asked Beijing through diplomatic channels to confirm the facts. In the event that it does so, the Government of Japan will demand from the Chinese Executive that such a situation does not occur again in the future, warning that “it would never accept any infringement of its airspace.”

“Even if it is a balloon, if it intrudes into Japan’s airspace without permission, it will be considered a violation of Japan’s airspace. Therefore, we will continue to collect information on balloons, including unmanned reconnaissance balloons from foreigners”, stressed the Ministry of Defense in a statement collected by the aforementioned agency.

The day before, Japan reported that a hot air balloon crossed its airspace in January 2022, adding that it is “highly likely” that it was a Chinese reconnaissance balloon. In addition, it also observed unidentified flying objects in June 2020 and September 2021.

The Japanese statement comes after several countries, such as Costa Rica, Colombia or the United States, have detected balloons allegedly spies of Chinese origin in their respective airspaces, which has strained Washington’s relationship with Beijing.