Diaoyu tensions up after radar incident

China's foreign ministry Wednesday reiterated the country's stance over the disputed Diaoyu Islands in the East China Sea and defended government aircraft and vessels' patrols in the area, after Japan lodged formal protests over alleged radar-locks that Chinese frigates put on a Japanese destroyer and navy helicopter.

"Recently, Japanese vessels and aircraft have repeatedly entered the airspace and territorial waters of China's Diaoyu Islands illegally. China has made repeated representations, demanding Japan stop its illegal activities," foreign ministry spokeswoman Hua Chunying told a daily press briefing, according to the ministry's website.

According to Reuters, in response to inquiries about Tokyo's protest over the incident about radar-locks, Hua said, "I have seen the reports but I don't understand the details of the situation."

However, the reply could not be found on the foreign ministry's website.

As of press time, China's defense ministry had not made any statement on the incident.

Japanese defense minister Itsunori Onodera Tuesday said the two incidents, which took place on January 19 and January 30 respectively, immediately "raised the sense of tension" among the Maritime Self Defense Force (MSDF) crews. "We recognize it could create a very dangerous situation if a single misstep occurred," he added.

According to Japan's Kyodo News, Japanese defense officials said the incident on January 30 occurred about 100 kilometers north of the Diaoyu Islands.

Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe Wednesday told parliament that it was a "unilateral provocative action by the Chinese side," and asked for restraint from Beijing.

The incident also raised concerns in the US.

"I will say that with regard to the reports of this particular lock-on incident, actions such as this escalate tensions and increase the risk of an incident or a miscalculation, and they could undermine peace, stability, and economic growth in this vital region," US State Department spokeswoman Victoria Nuland told a press briefing on Tuesday.

According to Japan's defense ministry, on the morning of January 30, the MSDF destroyer Yudachi detected the fire-control radar signal from a Chinese Jiangwei II class (Type 053H3) frigate, which was about three kilometers away.

Li Jie, a researcher at the Chinese Naval Research Institute, told the Global Times that Japanese military vessels and aircraft have often made provocative gestures by tailing Chinese navy vessels on the high seas.

"If the reports from Japan are true, the Chinese navy vessels might have intended to prepare for further provocative acts from the Japanese side by testing their radar equipment," Li said.

Chinese navy vessels are often followed and harassed by Japanese military vessels and aircraft as soon as they leave Chinese territorial waters, a military source told the Global Times earlier.

According to Lan Yun, an editor with the Modern Ships magazine, directing fire-control radars at the other side occurred frequently during the Cold War era and is seldom seen these days.

An opinion piece from South Korea's Munhwa Ilbo newspaper said Wednesday that by hyping the incident, Tokyo was trying to gain the upper hand in international opinion over the territorial dispute.