China Protests Japan over Helicopter Incident

   Beijing, May 4 (Jiji Press)--China's Foreign Ministry on Sunday protested to Japan over an incident the previous day in which a Chinese helicopter flew in Japanese airspace around the Japanese-administered Senkaku Islands.
   Liu Jinsong, director-general of the ministry's Department of Asian Affairs, lodged the protest to Akira Yokochi, minister at the Japanese Embassy in Beijing.
   Liu claimed that a commercial airplane piloted by a Japanese right-winger violated Chinese airspace around the East China Sea islands.
   In response, Yokochi, the No. 2 official at the embassy, filed a strong protest to Liu over the helicopter's violation of Japanese airspace and urged the Chinese side not to repeat such an act, according to the embassy.
   According to sources including Japan's Defense Ministry, four Haijing ships from the Chinese coast guard entered Japanese waters around the Senkaku Islands from around 12:18 p.m. Saturday, and a helicopter then took off from one of the vessels and flew in Japanese airspace around the islands before returning to the ship.

(2025/05/04-19:15)