Japan plans for Chinese jets entering disputed air

Japan's Air Self-Defense Force is reportedly planning a contingency scheme to cope with Chinese military aircraft or China Coast Guard planes' "intrusion into Japanese airspace."

The plan will be a critical link in Tokyo's efforts to strengthen defense of disputed islands in the East China Sea as well as Japan's southern and western regions, the Sankei Shimbun newspaper reported Wednesday.

The plan, the first made by Japan that targets Chinese planes, has raised concerns of a possible collision in the air between the neighbors.

When China's J-10 fighter jets enter the Japanese air defense zone, Japan will scramble F-15 fighter jets from its military base in Naha, Okinawa to intercept.

When Chinese planes near the Diaoyu Islands, which are at the center of a territorial dispute between the two neighbors, the F-15s will force them to land on Ishigaki Island or Miyako Island, the Osaka- and Tokyo-based national newspaper reported.

After the forced landings, the contingency plan stipulates that pilots will be detained by police in Okinawa prefecture on charges of violating "Japanese airspace."

If Chinese pilots bail out of their planes during interception, the Japanese coast guard will work with the defense force using specially set up communication codes.