Japan Thursday accused a Chinese plane of entering its airspace over the disputed Senkaku Islands in the East China Sea, which are also claimed China, UPI reported. Kyodo News quoted Japan's Chief Cabinet Secretary Osamu Fujimura that the plane belonging to the Chinese Oceanic Administration was spotted near the Uotsuri Island at 11:06 a.m. local time. Fujimura said Japan's Air Self-Defense Force scrambled F-15 jets after the incident. Other details were not available. There was no immediate response from China over the incident. The uninhabited Senkaku Islands are currently under Japanese control. Tensions between China and Japan over their respective territorial claims to the islands have escalated sharply since Japan nationalized the islands in September. There have been widespread protests in Chinese cities to assert Beijing's claims with calls to boycott Japanese goods. The growing dispute has begun to adversely impact the estimated $340 billion annual bilateral trade between the two countries.
