China denies putting radar-lock on Japanese warship
China on Friday denied Japan’s accusations that a Chinese navy vessel had put a radar-lock on a Japanese warship near a group of disputed islands.
China denies putting radar-lock on Japanese warship
By Jethro Mullen and Yoko Wakatsuki, CNN
Hong Kong (CNN) — China on Friday denied accusations by Japan that a Chinese navy vessel had put a radar-lock on a Japanese warship near a group of disputed islands at the heart of a bitter feud between the two Asian nations.
The Chinese Ministry of National Defense said in a statement, its first official response to the claims, that Japanese officials had given out “false information” and “hyped up” the threat from China.
The Japanese allegations this week have put a fresh strain on relations between Tokyo and Beijing, which remain at loggerheads over who has sovereignty over the remote, rocky islands in the East China Sea.
The tensions have resulted in maritime standoffs and the scrambling of fighter jets in recent months. Japan currently administers the islands, but China has been regularly sending its own vessels on patrols in the surrounding waters.
Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe on Wednesday described as “dangerous” and “regrettable” the actions of the Chinese frigate that Tokyo says used radar to gather information on the location of a Japanese destroyer in the East China Sea last week. That type of radar could be used to produce data needed to fire upon the Japanese vessel.
Source: CNN.
