China has dismissed Japanese accusations that a fighter jet from its aircraft carrier Liaoning locked its fire-control radar on Japanese warplanes, releasing audio it says proves prior notification of the drills was given.
Japan's defense ministry said on Saturday that a J-15 fighter from the Liaoning twice directed its fire-control radar at Japanese Air Self-Defense Force F-15 jets, calling the behavior "extremely dangerous" and stating China had not provided information regarding the related airspace.
In response, the state-affiliated media outlet "Yuyuan Tantian" published audio on its social media account Tuesday purporting to show the Chinese navy provided advance notice.
The audio shows personnel from Chinese naval vessel 101 informing Japanese Maritime Self-Defense Force ship JS Suzunami (DD-116) at 2.10pm in Mandarin and English that the carrier group would conduct scheduled flight operations. The Japanese vessel acknowledged the message in English.
A second notification was issued at 2.28pm, stating the flight training would begin around 3pm and last about six hours, mainly south of the carrier. The Japanese ship again acknowledged receipt.
The outlet stated the Liaoning group later detected two Japanese F-15s entering the notified exercise area, coming within 50 kilometers of Chinese aircraft. It argued that since the detection range of many modern fighter radars exceeds 50 kilometers, Japan's entry into the notified zone was a serious interference that automatically placed them within radar search range.
