Japan, China eye security talks to calm tensions over spy balloons

The dialogue would involve the countries’ senior diplomats and defence officials, with topics including Taiwan and Tokyo’s national security strategy on the agenda

China has urged Japan to refrain from following the US in ‘hyping up’ the balloon incident

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A flying object was spotted in the sky over Japan’s Miyagi prefecture in 2020. Photo: Kyodo

Published: 5:15pm, 18 Feb 2023

Japan and China plan to hold a security dialogue, possibly later this month, sources from the two governments said on Friday, amid diplomatic tensions over suspected Chinese spy balloons flown over the neighbouring nation in the past few years.

The dialogue in Japan would take place after the Japanese defence ministry said earlier in the week that at least three unidentified flying objects spotted over the country’s territorial airspace from 2019 to 2021 are “strongly suspected” to have been Chinese unstaffed spy balloons.

The dialogue would involve the countries’ senior foreign affairs and defence officials, including senior deputy foreign minister Shigeo Yamada, according to the sources. The previous meeting took place in Beijing in February 2019.

China has criticised Japan for “making up stories to smear and attack” Beijing without clear evidence, urging Tokyo to refrain from following the United States in “hyping up” the balloon incident.

The announcement by Japan on Tuesday came as the ministry reanalysed past cases of unidentified flying objects after the US downed a Chinese balloon on February 4 off the coast of South Carolina, renewing tensions between Washington and Beijing.