Tokyo, Japan (AP) — Japan said its warplanes used flares to warn a Russian reconnaissance aircraft to leave northern Japanese airspace on Monday. It came a day after a joint fleet of Chinese and Russian warships sailed around Japanese northern coasts. Earlier in September, Russian military aircraft flew around southern Japanese airspace. The Chinese aircraft carrier Liaoning, accompanied by two destroyers, sailed between Japan’s westernmost island of Yonaguni and nearby Iriomote, entering close to Japan’s waters. According to Japan’s military, it scrambled jets nearly 669 times between April 2023 and March 2024, about 70% of the time against Chinese military aircraft, though that did not include airspace violations.

---

Persons: —, Minoru Kihara, Kihara, ” Kihara, Japan “, ” Organizations: Japanese, Russian, Soviet Union Locations: Tokyo, Japan, — Japan, Russian, Hokkaido, Russia, China, Liaoning, Japan’s, Yonaguni, Iriomote