Former Osaka Mayor and lawyer Toru Hashimoto (56) appeared on Fuji Television’s “Sunday News THE PRIME” (Sunday 7:30) on July 7. He referred to the fact that a J-15 fighter jet, which departed from the Chinese Navy’s aircraft carrier Liaoning, irradiated radar at an Air Self-Defense Force F-15 fighter jet over the high seas southeast of the main island of Okinawa on August 6. In an extraordinary press conference before dawn on August 7, Defense Minister Shinjiro Koizumi said, “This is a dangerous act and extremely regrettable. We have strongly protested to the Chinese side and have strictly demanded that they prevent a recurrence of such an incident. The Self-Defense Forces suffered no damage. According to the Ministry of Defense, this is the first time that irradiation of an SDF aircraft by a Chinese military aircraft has been confirmed and announced. Relations between Japan and China have been deteriorating rapidly over Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi’s comments regarding the Taiwan contingency, and tensions are expected to further increase. Hashimoto said, “I think we should have a thorough debate, but I think it should be a logical discussion. After Mr. Koichi’s statement, some people, including experts, said that this was a deterrent against China. This is not about logic, but simply that we have more power than them. After Mr. Koichi’s statement, I spoke with various people involved with China, and they told me that if Japan says that it is a deterrent, China will surely show off its additional power because of its prestige. I don’t think Mr. Takaichi’s statement was a deterrent, but I don’t think we should talk about power being superior or strength being superior,” he said. The radar irradiation occurred intermittently against another F-15 between 4:32 p.m. and 4:35 p.m. and between 6:37 p.m. and 7:08 p.m. on June 6, respectively, when the F-15 detected the irradiation with its sensors.
