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Kunio Orita

【#1324】Quick Protests and Public Announcements Can Deter Chinese Military

Kunio Orita ／ 2025.12.18 (Thu)


December 15, 2025

　
On December 6, J-15 fighter jets launched from the Chinese Navy’s aircraft carrier Liaoning illuminated Japanese Air Self-Defense Force F-15 fighters with radar on two separate occasions, when the F-15s were on a mission to intercept Chinese aircraft approaching Japanese airspace over the high seas southeast of Okinawa Island. On one of the two occasions, the illumination lasted for about 30 minutes, which clearly can be said as an act of intimidation and provocation.

In the case of naval vessels, they are equipped with two radars: a search radar and fire control radar. In contrast, fighter jets operate a single radar that switches between search mode and fire-control mode. A fire-control mode can be used not only to fire weapons but also to obtain data about other aircraft (such as the altitude, speed, and heading) for a few seconds. However, continuing to use radar for about 30 minutes is, so to speak, akin to pointing a gun at someone’s temple with a finger on the trigger—an extremely dangerous situation. It can be said as a combat act, to which a normal air force may respond with a counterattack in self-defense.

China’s misguided assertion

Although a spokesman for the Chinese Ministry of Foreign Affairs protested that Japanese aircraft had entered a Chinese training area to interfere with training, the protest was misguided in the absence of any advance notification of the training area via a NOTAM (Notice to Airmen), an international system used to provide air traffic safety information to relevant parties. A Japanese Maritime Self-Defense Force ship received a Chinese notice on the start of training, but it was only about the start of training. As far as the training area is left unknown, there is no way to respond.

The incident occurred in Japan’s air defense identification zone, or ADIZ. Even within the ADIZ, freedom of flight over the high seas is guaranteed by international law, and military training can be conducted without restriction. However, the Chinese should be well aware that when China conducts military training close to Japan’s territorial airspace, Japan will scramble fighter jets and put then on alert. That is why it is an international practice to prevent unforeseen situations by notifying training areas and periods of time in advance via the NOTAM. The latest incident shows that China does not know or has no intension to abide by the international practice.

Japan should set up ADIZ over the Ogasawara Islands

Quickly protesting such arguably unlawful actions by the Chinese military and swiftly disclosing them to the international community will help prevent their recurrence. This time, the Ministry of Defense announced the incident at a press conference by the defense minister just six hours after it occurred, indicating a significant improvement from the 2013 Chinese military ship radar illumination incident that took six days to be announced.

In the future, the Chinese Navy will routinize its operations beyond the first island chain (extending from Japan’s Nansei Islands to the Philippines via Taiwan). Japan’s air defense network remains unchanged from the Cold War system, with the former Soviet Union as the main threat, leaving its Pacific side vulnerable. Japan should urgently develop Iwo Jima Island as an operational base and set up its ADIZ over the Ogasawara, or Bonin, Islands, including Iwo Jima, to enhance the Pacific side of its air defense network.

Kunio Orita is a member of the JINF Planning Committee and a special professor at Reitaku University. He is a retired Lieutenant General of the Japanese Air Self-Defense Force.