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Japan has scrambled fighter jets after a Chinese government aircraft entered its airspace in an escalation of an already tense situation surrounding a disputed island chain.
Six F-15s took off from the main island of Okinawa Prefecture after the surveillance aircraft, belonging to the Chinese Oceanic Administration, was seen close to Uotsuri Island at just after 11am yesterday.
The Senkaku islands, as they are known in Japan, are currently controlled by Tokyo but are claimed by both China and Taiwan.
The dispute has been a periodic thorn in the side of Japan's relationships with its neighbours ever since deposits of oil and natural gas were found around the islands in the 1970s. (© Daily Telegraph, London)
Irish Independent
