Chinese fighter aircraft locked fire-control radar on Japanese military jets for the first time on Saturday, according to Japan’s Defense Ministry, an incident that is likely to further stoke simmering tensions between Tokyo and Beijing.

At a press briefing in the early hours of Sunday in Tokyo, Japanese Defense Minister Shinjiro Koizumi gave details of two episodes of a Chinese J-15 intermittently locking its radar on Japanese F-15 fighter planes over international waters southeast of Japan’s Okinawa Prefecture.

The latest incident is set to further fuel tensions between the two nations sparked by Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi’s comments on Taiwan last month, which is worrying to other Asia-Pacific countries. Takaichi said that a Chinese attack on Taiwan could mean a “survival-threateni

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