While Sankei reported China’s dangerous aerial provocations, Asahi Shimbun framed the incident by echoing China’s accusations against Japan.
This contrast exposes a media posture that prioritizes authoritarian narratives over Japan’s national interest.

2016-07-06
In contrast, the following is from page 4 of yesterday’s Asahi Shimbun.
The following is from the front page of the June 29 edition of Sankei Shimbun.
Chinese Aircraft Perform Attack Maneuvers Against ASDF Aircraft
Over the East China Sea — Former Air Marshal Reports Online
Kunio Oda, former Air Marshal and former commander of the Air Support Command of the Japan Air Self-Defense Force, published an article on an online news site on the 28th stating that Chinese military fighter jets “initiated attack maneuvers against ASDF fighter aircraft, forcing them to evade missile attacks and withdraw from the operational area” over the East China Sea.
The article does not specify the exact date, location, or type of Chinese aircraft involved.
Senior officials of the Ministry of Defense acknowledged the general facts in an interview with Sankei Shimbun, but pointed out that “the key issue is how close the Chinese aircraft actually came to the ASDF aircraft.”
In his article, Oda referred to recent cases in which Chinese naval vessels repeatedly intruded into the contiguous zone around the Senkaku Islands and the territorial waters around Kuchinoerabujima, noting that “in tandem with these maritime movements, Chinese air and naval fighters have begun taking extremely dangerous provocative actions against ASDF scramble aircraft.”
According to the article, because Chinese aircraft initiated attack maneuvers against the scrambled ASDF aircraft, the ASDF aircraft “initially evaded them through defensive maneuvers, but judging that being drawn into a dogfight could lead to unpredictable situations, they used self-defense systems while avoiding missile attacks by the Chinese aircraft and withdrew from the operational area.”
Regarding China’s provocative actions, in 2001 over international waters in the South China Sea, a Chinese military aircraft made an abnormal approach to a U.S. electronic reconnaissance aircraft, collided with it, and crashed, forcing the U.S. aircraft to make an emergency landing on China’s Hainan Island.
In 2013, a Chinese naval vessel in the East China Sea illuminated a Japan Maritime Self-Defense Force destroyer and helicopter with fire-control radar.
Oda, himself a former fighter pilot, pointed out that “armed fighter jets encountering each other within missile range means that once a dogfight begins, the possibility of aerial collision or missile launch is more than sufficient.”
In an interview with Sankei Shimbun on the 28th, Oda emphasized that “Chinese military aircraft are approaching as far as the airspace over the Senkaku Islands in complete disregard of common sense, and if this becomes routine, airspace stability cannot be maintained.”
Oda graduated from the National Defense Academy in 1974, joined the ASDF, served as commander of the Air Support Command from 2006, and retired in 2009.
In contrast, the following is from page 4 of yesterday’s Asahi Shimbun.
“ASDF Aircraft Illuminate Radar,” China Criticizes Japan — Last Month’s Scramble
On the 4th, China’s Ministry of National Defense criticized Japan, claiming that during a scramble by ASDF aircraft on the 17th of last month over the East China Sea, Japanese F-15 fighters approached Chinese military aircraft and illuminated them with fire-control radar.
This appears aimed at justifying the actions of Chinese military aircraft.
According to Japanese government officials, on the 17th of last month, ASDF aircraft scrambled in response to Chinese military aircraft over the skies around the southwestern islands, including the Senkaku Islands.
Related to this, a former ASDF Air Marshal posted an article online on the 28th stating that Chinese military aircraft “initiated attack maneuvers against ASDF aircraft.”
He wrote that “the ASDF aircraft withdrew while avoiding missile attacks by Chinese aircraft, using self-defense systems.”
At a press conference on the 29th, Chief Cabinet Secretary’s Deputy Koichi Hagiuda stated that “we have not confirmed the fact that an attack was carried out by Chinese aircraft, though there were close-range exchanges.”
On the 4th, responding to reporters’ questions, China’s Ministry of National Defense stated that “two Su-30 aircraft were patrolling the East China Sea air defense identification zone when two Japanese F-15 fighters rapidly approached and illuminated them with fire-control radar,” and that “after the Chinese military took tactical maneuvers, the Japanese aircraft retreated after deploying infrared countermeasures.”
The countermeasures are believed to refer to flares designed to disrupt incoming missiles.
This is consistent with the former Air Marshal’s claim that “ASDF aircraft used self-defense systems.”
Japan has not disclosed whether ASDF aircraft used such self-defense systems.
On the night of the 4th, a senior official of Japan’s Ministry of Defense stated that they would “not comment” on the Chinese Ministry of National Defense’s briefing.
Anyone with sound judgment must have been utterly appalled by the absurdity of Asahi Shimbun’s headline.
This article seemed to confirm the validity of my concern that Asahi Shimbun may already be a newspaper effectively investigated by China’s Communist Party dictatorship and its intelligence apparatus.
That such a newspaper has long been treated as a representative national daily reveals the extent to which Japan’s national interests have been damaged.
The time has long since come for all Japanese citizens, young and old alike, to realize that the total damage inflicted upon Japan by them has reached an astronomical level beyond any possibility of compensation or restitution by Asahi Shimbun.