According to the Chinese government-backed Xinhua news agency, a spokesman for the country’s military has stated that they have “adequate” evidence of Japanese warships and aircrafts engaging in close-range “monitoring and surveillance” over China’s navy. Geng Yansheng, with the Ministry of National Defense, said that China retains its right to take “relevant measures.” There was no mention of the fact that Japan may be carrying out the monitoring because China’s military ships were found to have used weapons-targeting radar in January.
It should not take much to realize that this accusation is an exact tit-for-tat claim against the Tokyo government’s announcement in February that it had evidence of China’s radar usage in the waters near the disputed Senkaku/Diaoyu Islands. Geng says that for some time Japanese military ships and airplanes have followed, monitored, and disturbed Chinese naval vessels, something which “aggravates current Sino-Japanese marine security problems.” A very astute observation from Geng, and one that completely legitimizes and explains why Japan would be so upset about radar being pointed at its own military. But just as the Chinese Defense Ministry stated last month, Geng maintains that facts make it clear Japan’s allegations are groundless.
The government spokesman went on to say that Japan was motivated to “tarnish the image of Chinese military,” and misled the international community’s opinion in order to create regional tension. Geng added that the international community should be paying attention to Japan’s actions and its leader’s continued hyping of the Chinese threat by prompting military confrontation. He concluded his propagandist message by stating that Japan needed to mind its words and actions, stop repeating its mistaken messages, and handle the territorial dispute “properly.”
[via People's Daily]