Japan raises concerns over China, Russia joint air patrols

Japan has raised concerns with China and Russia about their joint air patrols. The concerns follow the recent incursions over Japan’s territory.

Japanese Chief Cabinet Secretary Hirokazu Matsuno said Thursday that Tokyo has expressed “severe concerns” about the joint air patrols Chinese and Russian forces are making close to Japanese territory. Matsuno, the Japanese government’s top spokesperson, said they would continue to monitor the situation and that Japan would “decisively protect” its territories.

“We will closely monitor the increasing cooperation between the two countries with a sense of concern,” Matsuno told a news conference.

The day before, the Russian defense ministry said its military and China’s military would conduct joint air patrols of strategic warplanes over the Sea of Japan and the East China Sea.

On Friday, Reuters reported that Japan, the United Kingdom, and Italy are set to announce a groundbreaking agreement as early as next week, according to two sources familiar with the matter. The agreement was to develop a new advanced fighter jet which would represent the culmination of closer defense ties between Japan and the UK.

This would also give the UK a bigger security role in Asia, providing Japan with new security partners that can help counter China’s growing military power. This would also mark the first collaboration Japan has with countries aside from the United States on a major defense equipment project.

The sources said the announcement would come ahead of Tokyo’s new national security strategy and military procurement plan in mid-December. This would potentially double Japan’s defense budget to up to five percent of its GDP in the next five years, which would pay for new weapons, including long-range ballistic missiles that could prevent China from resorting to military actions in the East China Sea.

Japan’s governing Liberal Democratic Party is also looking into proposals that would relax its military export rules so that the joint jet fighter could be exported, according to former Japanese defense minister Itsunori Onodera in an interview last month.

Tokyo is also reportedly going to allocate up to $318 billion for defense spending starting in the next fiscal year, which begins in April.