Japan and China accuse each other of violating airspace around disputed East China Sea islands

Japan’s Foreign Ministry issued a statement saying that it has protested to Beijing after a Chinese helicopter that took off from one of China’s four coast guard boats had entered Japan’s territorial waters around the Senkaku island, violating the Japanese airspace around them for about 15 minutes on Saturday. China routinely sends coast guard vessels and aircraft into waters and airspace surrounding the islands, which China calls the Diaoyu, to harass Japanese vessels in the area and force Japan to scramble jets in response. Japanese officials are investigating a possible connection between the Chinese coast guard helicopter’s airspace intrusion and the small Japanese civilian aircraft flying in the area around the same time.