Abe Condemns China's Radar-Lock as Dangerous

Tokyo, Feb. 6 (Jiji Press)--Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe condemned on Wednesday a Chinese naval ship's use of weapons-targeting radar against a Japanese Maritime Self-Defense Force destroyer. "This is a dangerous act that could lead to contingencies and extremely deplorable," Abe said at a plenary meeting of the House of Councillors, the upper chamber of parliament. Japan pressed China via diplomatic channels to prevent a repeat of the incident, he said. The Japanese government said Tuesday that a Chinese navy frigate locked its weapons-targeting radar on an MSDF destroyer in the East China Sea on Jan. 30. The incident occurred when the MSDF ship was on patrol in the high seas around the Japanese-controlled Senkaku islands. China also claims the islands, which it calls Diaoyu. "Amid signs of progress toward dialogue between Japan and China, it is very regrettable that such unilateral act of provocation took place," Abe said. "Japan will demand China return to the basics of their mutually beneficial strategic relationship, prevent the recurrence of such act and exercise self-restraint so that tensions will not escalate," Abe said. There is also suspicion that another Chinese naval frigate locked weapons-targeting radar on an MSDF helicopter on Jan. 19, according to Japanese government officials. Explaining why the government took time before it made the announcement, Defense Minister Itsunori Onodera told the Upper House meeting that it has made an analysis and confirmation work cautiously. The announcement was made because it was an unusual case in which such dangerous act appears to have been made repeatedly in a short time, Onodera said. Speaking at a news conference, Deputy Chief Cabinet Secretary Katsunobu Kato said Japan and China need to speed up work to establish a mechanism of bilateral communication on the sea in a bid to prevent contingencies. END