Japan Tracks Chinese Drones as Keen Sword Begins
Japan scrambled fighter jets on Monday, October 19, after three Chinese military aircraft flew between Japanese islands, the South China Morning Post reported, citing Japan’s Joint Staff Office. The aircraft were two drones and a reconnaissance plane.
A BZK-005 drone and a Y-9 intelligence aircraft passed through the Miyako Strait into the Pacific, while a TB-001 drone flew between Yonaguni Island and Taiwan before turning back. The flights coincided with the start of Keen Sword, the Japan-US exercise running until October 29, with about 45,000 Japanese and 12,000 American personnel.
Separately, Philippine academic Renato Cruz De Castro told a Taipei forum on Tuesday that Taiwan, the Philippines and Japan should pursue defence cooperation, according to Focus Taiwan. He said it could proceed if it was not publicly announced.
Both accounts are public reports, and neither stated a Chinese response; the exercise continues, and what the flights signal remains largely unsettled.