Japan’s Defense Ministry Deploys SDF Aircraft to China’s Self-Claimed ADIZ; Taiwan Confirms Over 5 Chinese Vessels Around Island

The Yomiuri Shimbun

21:00 JST, February 1, 2024

The Defense Ministry has been deploying an airborne early warning and control system (AWACS) plane and other aircraft into the air defense identification zone (ADIZ) which China has unilaterally declared over an area of the East China Sea, for surveillance of Beijing’s constant deployment of warships near the boundaries of the ADIZ, the ministry announced Wednesday.

The activity was explained at a joint meeting of the Liberal Democratic Party’s Research Commission on Security and other groups.

During the meeting, the ministry introduced an overview of Yomiuri Shimbun articles from the front page of the morning editions on Sunday and Monday about the activities of Chinese warships in the East China Sea and around Taiwan.

The ministry explained that, in response, the Self-Defense Forces have deployed aircraft including an AWACS plane, a fixed-wing patrol aircraft and a patrol helicopter within the ADIZ. Materials presented at the meeting showed that a destroyer has been deployed, too.

China’s ADIZ includes the Senkaku Islands in Okinawa Prefecture. The materials underlined that “the Senkaku Islands’ airspace has been marked as if it were ‘Chinese airspace,’ which is totally unacceptable.”

The ministry also explained that Taiwan’s defense ministry has confirmed an average of 5.03 Chinese naval vessels spotted in the waters surrounding Taiwan per day from August 2022 to the end of 2023.