Overview

• A Chinese coast guard helicopter entered Japanese airspace near the Senkaku Islands for 15 minutes, marking the first such incident involving a Chinese government helicopter.
• Japan scrambled fighter jets in response to the airspace violation and lodged a formal protest with Beijing, urging measures to prevent future occurrences.
• China accused a Japanese civilian aircraft of illegally entering the airspace it claims around the islands, and announced it had expelled the aircraft using its coast guard helicopter.
• The islands, known as Senkaku in Japan and Diaoyu in China, are administered by Japan but claimed by China, making them a longstanding flashpoint in bilateral relations.
• Japanese officials are investigating a possible connection between the Chinese helicopter's intrusion and the presence of the Japanese civilian aircraft in the area at the same time.