Chinese jets point radar at Japanese aircraft, Japan says
www.reuters.com

...
- - - China says Japanese aircraft were disrupting Chinese drills

- - - Most serious China-Japan military confrontations in years

- - - Radar illuminations considered a threatening act

- - - Australian minister 'deeply concerned' about China's action

- - - China-Japan relations soured over Japan PM's Taiwan comments

Defense Minister Shinjiro Koizumi, meeting with his Australian counterpart Richard Marles in Tokyo, said Japan would respond "resolutely and calmly" to China's conduct in order to maintain regional peace and stability.

But a Chinese navy spokesperson, Colonel Wang Xuemeng, said Japanese aircraft had repeatedly approached and disrupted the Chinese navy as it was conducting previously announced carrier-based flight training east of the Miyako Strait.

CHINA-JAPAN TIES STRAINED OVER TAIWAN ...

Japan and Australia urge calm after Chinese radar locks onto Japanese jets
www.abc.net.au

... In short:

The defence ministers of Japan and Australia have expressed concern during their scheduled talks in Tokyo on Sunday after Chinese military aircraft locked radar onto Japanese fighter jets.

The incident occurred a month after the Japanese leader's recent remarks on Taiwan that stirred tensions between Tokyo and Beijing.

What's next?

Australia and Japan have agreed to bolster military ties to lead the region's multilateral defence cooperation. ...

Relations between Japan and China have worsened after Japan's Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi said in early November that its military could get involved if China were to take action against Taiwan, the self-governing island that Beijing claims as its own.

Australia and Japan, whose defence ministers held their scheduled talks in Tokyo on Sunday, expressed worry over the development.
Japanese Minister of Defense Shinjiro Koizumi, left, and Australian counterpart Richard Marles

"We are deeply concerned by the actions of China in the last 24 hours," Australian Defence Minister Richard Marles told a joint news conference Sunday after holding talks with Mr Koizumi.

"We expect those interactions to be safe and professional."

Australia does "not want to see any change to the status quo across the Taiwan Straits," Mr Marles said, adding that China is his country's largest trade partner and he wants to have productive relations with Beijing. ...