Patrol during the summit
Russian and Chinese bombers provoke Japan

05/24/2022, 4:45pm

While heads of state from India, Australia and the United States gathered for a summit in Japan, Chinese and Russian bombers approached the island. Tokyo expressed concern and described the patrol flights as a “provocation”.

Chinese and Russian fighter jets had taken a joint flight near Japan, according to Japan’s defense minister – just as the heads of state and governments of the US, India, Australia and Japan were meeting in the country for a summit on regional security. Two Chinese bombers flew with two Russian bombers from the Sea of ​​Japan to the East China Sea, Defense Minister Nobuo Kishi said in Tokyo. After that, four more fighter jets flew from the East China Sea to the Pacific.

According to the Ministry of Defense, Japanese airspace was not violated. However, according to Kishi, the Japanese government has expressed “grave concern” about China and Russia. Kishi said a Russian spy plane also flew north of Hokkaido to the Noto Peninsula in central Japan. This is very “provocative”.

According to the Financial Times, Russia’s Defense Ministry said Russian TU-95MS bombers and Chinese H-6 bombers carried out joint patrol flights “in strict accordance with the provisions of international law”. There is no violation of the airspace of other countries. Japan has long-standing territorial disputes with China and Russia. There are also repeated flights of military aircraft from these countries near the Japanese border.

The Quad group meeting, which includes Japan, Australia, India and the United States, was held in Japan today. US President Joe Biden also attended the meeting. On Monday, Biden raised the issue of military support for Taiwan in the event of an attack by China. When asked by a journalist whether the US could “participate militarily to defend Taiwan” – unlike in Russia’s war of aggression against Ukraine, Biden replied “yes”. He later added: “That’s the commitment we made.” China later accused Biden of “playing with fire”.