China Defense Ministry: Japan’s ‘Persecution Complex’ Over China-Russia Flights

TREE NEWS update: Japan’s Air Self-Defense Force scrambled 442 times between April and September in response to Chinese and Russian military aircraft, up nearly 70% year-on-year, including 285 sorties against Chinese aircraft and 152 against Russian ones, Japan’s Defense Ministry said. Japanese Defense Minister Gen Nakatani called China-Russia joint patrols a “show of force” aimed at Japan. Chinese Defense Ministry spokesperson Senior Colonel Zhang Xiaogang said Japan’s surveillance and harassment of legitimate Chinese operations exposes a “persecution complex.”