Japan rejects speculation China behind missing military helicopter accident

Name: Rescuers find fragments of Japanese Black Hawk helicopter, 10 personnel missing
Uploaded: 2023-04-11T22:00:28.000Z
Duration: 1 min 56 s
Description: Rescuers find fragments of Japanese Black Hawk helicopter, 10 personnel missing

All 10 aboard the helicopter remain unaccounted for after it presumably crashed off Okinawa’s Miyako island

The defence ministry’s clarification came following online rumours that Chinese forces shot down the chopper with a missile or a drone

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Kyodo

Published: 6:00am, 12 Apr 2023

Japan on Tuesday dismissed speculation linking China’s military to a recent accident involving a Ground Self-Defence Force helicopter that went missing last week after presumably crashing off the southern prefecture of Okinawa.

“We have not confirmed moves by the Chinese military related to” the apparent crash on Thursday of the GSDF UH-60JA multipurpose helicopter off Miyako island, defence ministry spokesman Takeshi Aoki told a press conference.

His remarks came amid online speculation that Chinese forces shot down the chopper with a missile or a drone or attacked the radio waves of the helicopter, causing it to lose control.

All 10 aboard the helicopter remain unaccounted for. Search efforts for the chopper have been hampered by the coral reefs in the area where it lost contact.

Speculations were further fuelled by information released by the Japanese defence ministry before the incident. The ministry had said that Chinese navy reconnaissance and frigate vessels were spotted sailing through nearby waters early Thursday.

At a parliament session last week, an opposition lawmaker asked Defence Minister Yasukazu Hamada about the connection between the Chinese ships and the incident. Hamada said that his ministry has not received reports suggesting any connection.

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Rescuers find fragments of Japanese Black Hawk helicopter, 10 personnel missing

Noting that the helicopter went missing at 3.56pm (local time) on Thursday, Aoki said there was a “huge difference” between the time the incident occurred and the time the Chinese vessels were confirmed being in the area.