Defense & Security

Chinese Reconnaissance Drone Flies between Japan’s Yonaguni Island and Taiwan

Courtesy of the Defense Ministry
A Chinese military drone as seen from a scrambled Self-Defense Forces aircraft

The Yomiuri Shimbun

21:00 JST, August 28, 2023

A Chinese BZK-005 military reconnaissance drone flew between Japan’s westernmost island of Yonaguni in Okinawa Prefecture and Taiwan on Monday morning, the Defense Ministry said.

The announcement marked the fourth time for the ministry to confirm the flight of an aircraft believed to be a Chinese drone in the airspace.

There was no violation of Japan’s territorial airspace.

According to the ministry, the drone flew from the direction of the East China Sea, passed between Yonaguni Island and Taiwan, before entering the skies above the Pacific Ocean. It then changed direction, turning away from the Sakishima Islands in Okinawa Prefecture, and flying toward the Bashi Channel in southern Taiwan.