Japan deployed a number of fighter jets to monitor the movements of a number of Russian and Chinese bombers carrying out joint patrols around the country. This incident occurred amid increasing tensions between Tokyo and Beijing.
The Japanese Ministry of Defense in its statement, as reported ReutersWednesday (10/12/2025), said that two Russian nuclear-capable Tu-95 strategic bombers flew from the Sea of Japan to the East China Sea to rendezvous with two Chinese H-6 bombers.
A total of four Russian and Chinese bombers, the Japanese Defense Ministry said in a statement at midnight on Tuesday (9/12), carried out “joint long-range flights” over the Pacific.
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Japan’s Defense Ministry said four Chinese J-16 fighter jets later joined the bombers as they made a round-trip flight between the Japanese islands of Okinawa and Miyako.
The Miyako Strait, which lies between the two islands, is classified as international waters.
In its statement, the Japanese Ministry of Defense also said that it detected Russian Air Force activity simultaneously in the Sea of Japan, consisting of one A-50 early warning aircraft and two Su-30 fighter jets.
Japan’s Defense Minister, Shinjiro Koizumi, said in a post via social media
Koizumi confirmed that Japan’s fighter jets had “strictly implemented air defense identification measures”.
Meanwhile, Russian news agencies, citing Moscow’s Defense Ministry, reported that a joint Russian and Chinese flight operation near Japan lasted eight hours.
In a separate incident on Tuesday (9/12) local time, the South Korean (South Korean) military reported that seven Russian military aircraft and two Chinese military aircraft entered the Korean Air Defense Identification Zone (KADIZ). Seoul conveyed an official protest to the defense attaches of Moscow and Beijing.
“Our military will continue to actively respond to aircraft from neighboring countries within KADIZ in accordance with international law,” said the Director General of the International Policy Bureau at the South Korean Ministry of Defense, Lee Kwang Suk, in a statement on Wednesday (10/12), as reported by AFP.
This increase in Chinese military action near Japan follows Prime Minister (PM) Sanae Takaichi’s comments last month about Tokyo being able to respond to any military action by Beijing against Taiwan that also threatens Japan’s security. The comments drew China’s anger.
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(nvc/ita)
