Unprofessional Japan must not compromise China's security interests, warns defence spokesman

The Chinese Defence Ministry has warned Japanese military aircraft not to be unprofessional and compromise its security interests by engaging in dangerous intercepts of Chinese planes and putting the safety of its fliers at risk.

"Such high-frequency reconnaissance against China not only disturbs the routine training of the Chinese military but also undermines the security interests of China," China's Ministry of National Defense spokesperson Col. Wu Qian, said at a briefing on Thursday.

Wu said Japanese planes were using dangerous tactics during those intercepts.

"The aircraft of Japanese Air Self Defense Force switched on the fire control radars or even dropped an infrared countermeasure bomb during encounters with Chinese aircraft," Wu said, calling those actions "unprofessional and dangerous."

Wu said Chinese military flights near Japan were completely within international law and standard aviation practices and that Japan's disproportionate response risked accidents.

He however did not cite any specific incidents during the briefing, reports CNN.

Earlier, China had said two Japanese F-15 jets locked their fire control radars onto two Chinese Su-30 jets during a June 17 encounter over the East China Sea.

Also in late September, Japan sent up fighter jets after eight Chinese military planes crossed between Okinawa and the Miyako islands near Taiwan.

Meanwhile, Japan reported earlier this month that it has scrambled its warplanes 407 times between April 1 and September 30 in reaction to increased Chinese military flights near Japanese airspace.

The figure is almost double the number of intercepts Japan's Air Self Defense Force made on Chinese aircraft in the same period in 2015.