Koizumi Raps China's Info Prior to Radar Incident as Insufficient

Tokyo, Dec. 10 (Jiji Press)--Japanese Defense Minister Shinjiro Koizumi said Wednesday that although China notified Japan that it would begin military flight training, it failed to provide "sufficient information" to avoid a potential danger.

The minister made the comment at an extraordinary press conference, after a Chinese media outlet on Tuesday released what it claimed were audio data showing the country's navy notifying Japan's Maritime Self-Defense Force on Saturday of the planned start of training in advance.

According to Japan's Defense Ministry, a J-15 fighter jet from the Chinese aircraft carrier Liaoning intermittently directed its radar at Japanese Air SDF F-15 fighters engaging in anti-airspace violation activities over the high seas southeast of the main island of the southernmost Japan prefecture of Okinawa on Saturday.

Bringing up the Chinese media report, Koizumi said, "An MSDF destroyer was informed by a Chinese warship that (the Chinese side) would begin flight training."

But he said that the Chinese side failed to provide notice to airmen, or NOTAM, information on the time as well as the latitude and longitude of the location of the training, and to issue a navigation warning.

[Copyright The Jiji Press, Ltd.]