TOKYO (Reuters) - A Chinese military plane used for gathering electronic information from warships and other military facilities was seen near Japan's southernmost main island of Kyushu twice in August, Kyodo news agency said on Tuesday.
The aircraft seemed to be carrying out an exercise or test in Japan's designated air defence zone, Kyodo quoted an unidentified source as saying in a story from Washington.
A spokesman for Japan's Defence Agency said he had no information on the sighting.
The news comes amid simmering tensions between China and Japan over a range of issues from wartime history to territorial rights in the East China Sea, where China is developing a gas field close to an area claimed by Japan.
Japan has also granted test-drilling rights to Teikoku Oil Co. to test-drill for gas in the disputed waters.
A Japanese military patrol plane spotted five Chinese warships close to the Chunxiao gas field on Friday, weeks before China is slated to begin gas production in the area, a move Tokyo has repeatedly urged Beijing to shelve.
Kyodo said this was the first time a Chinese electronic surveillance aircraft had been spotted, and quoted its sources as saying the plane's purpose was identified by its external features and flight pattern.
The Pentagon said in a report in July it was concerned about China's military modernisation, which will likely change the balance of power in Asia.
Relations between Japan and China, already chilly, took a turn for the worse when Prime Minister Junichiro Koizumi sprang to power in 2001.
Many in Asia criticise his visits to the Yasukuni war shrine, which they say is a symbol of the past Japanese militarism used to justify the invasion of parts of China as well as North and South Korea.
Koizumi was re-elected prime minister in a landslide poll victory on Sunday, something South Korean media said might shake Asian stability.
(September-13-2005)
