Japan on Monday for the first time accused a Chinese military aircraft of violating its airspace. At 11:29 a.m. Monday, a Y-9 surveillance plane violated the territorial airspace of the Danjo Islands in Nagasaki Prefecture in the East China Sea, according to Japan's Defense Ministry.

Japan: Japan said on Monday that a Chinese military aircraft had violated its airspace, in what local media said was the first such move by a Chinese aircraft. Japan's defense ministry said at 11.29am on Monday the Y-9 surveillance aircraft “violated the territorial airspace over the Danjo Islands in Nagasaki Prefecture” in the East China Sea for two minutes. This prompted Japan to deploy “emergency fighter jets,” Kyodo news outlet reported.

State media said the latest development could escalate tensions between the two countries after repeated maritime provocations by China in the region. The plane circled the waters southeast of the islands several times before entering Japanese airspace and then headed toward China at around 1:15 p.m. The Japanese Defense Ministry said Japanese Air Self-Defense Force (ASDF) soldiers did not fire or use weapons. Signal flares.

Japanese Deputy Foreign Minister Masataka Okano summoned China's acting ambassador late Monday to express “very serious condemnation” and call for measures against a recurrence, the Japanese foreign ministry said in a statement.

According to NHK, the Japanese public broadcaster, earlier incursions by non-military aircraft included a propeller-driven Chinese maritime surveillance plane and a small drone that took off from a Chinese coast guard ship and flew into airspace near the disputed Senkaku. Islands in 2012 and 2017.

Kyodo news agency quoted a Japanese Defense Ministry source as saying China was “trying to provoke a reaction from Japan,” while a government source said the plane only grazed territorial airspace and possibly strayed off course.

China's increasingly aggressive activities in the region, especially with Taiwan, have become a source of concern for the US and its allies. Japan is part of the Quadrilateral Alliance with India, Australia and the US, which is seen as a counterweight to Beijing's assertiveness in the Indo-Pacific region.

China claims the Senkaku Islands in the Japanese-administered East China Sea, and there have been clashes between Japanese and Chinese ships. The disputed group of islands, Utsuri Island, Minamikojima and Kitakojima are known as Diaoyu in China.

Meanwhile, US National Security Advisor Jake Sullivan will meet Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi in Beijing today.

(with ANI input)