Japan: Suspected espionage activities from 3 Chinese balloons

(ANSA) - TOKYO, FEBRUARY 15 - The Japanese government follows the narrative of the United States and reveals for the first time that three unidentified objects were sighted over its airspace between 2019 and 2021, "suspected to be Chinese spy balloons in all likelihood". ".

    The Japanese Defense Ministry has asked Beijing to confirm the facts to prevent the recurrence of similar contingencies and reiterated that Japan will never accept any violation of its territory.

The three flying objects were detected in southwestern Japan's Kagoshima prefecture in November 2019 and northeastern Miyagi and Aomori prefectures in June 2020 and September 2021, respectively, although the ministry did not say it was sure they belonged to China.

   "We will increase efforts to improve surveillance against these types of systems and any objects related to espionage activities," the statement said.

    The latest revelations follow the shooting down of the first balloon from China, which exploded on 4 February off the coast of South Carolina, in the United States, and three other flying objects sighted and shot down as a precaution by US military fighter jets.

In a press conference, Japanese Defense Minister Yasukazu Hamada said yesterday that the self-defense forces will be authorized to use weapons, including air-to-air missiles, to deal with incursions into the airspace.

(HANDLE).