Japan says it has ‘legal right’ to destroy any foreign balloon as it probes reports of past sightings

Name: Beijing insists ‘balloon does not belong to America’ as US recovers wreckage from sea
Uploaded: 2023-02-08T09:30:07.000Z
Duration: 2 min 37 s
Description: Beijing insists ‘balloon does not belong to America’ as US recovers wreckage from sea

Japan’s defence minister said under existing laws, that it would have the legal right to destroy any balloon that intrudes into its domestic airspace

Tokyo is investigating if balloons, similar to the Chinese one shot down over the US, may have been used to probe Japan’s defences in the past

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A flying object is spotted in the sky over Sendai, Miyagi Prefecture, in northeastern Japan. The object has come under the spotlight again after a similar Chinese balloon was detected travelling over the US. Photo: Kyodo/File

Julian Ryallin Tokyo

Published: 5:30pm, 8 Feb 2023Updated: 5:55pm, 8 Feb 2023

Japan is investigating reported sightings of balloons over its territory in recent years, due to growing concerns that China is deploying the relatively unsophisticated technology to obtain intelligence about Japan’s defences.

Defence Minister Yasukazu Hamada said on Tuesday under existing laws, Japan would have the legal right to destroy any balloon that intrudes into its domestic airspace.

Tokyo has been closely watching Washington’s response to a Chinese surveillance balloon that was tracked for about a week as it crossed North America – coming very close to sensitive American military facilities – before it was shot down by a fighter off the east coast on Saturday.

Japan is concerned because some weather models indicated it crossed into its territory before traversing the Pacific Ocean, and that other balloons may have been used to probe Japan’s defences in the past or may be used for the same reason in the future.

02:37

Beijing insists ‘balloon does not belong to America’ as US recovers wreckage from sea

Deputy Chief Cabinet Secretary Yoshihio Isozaki said in a press conference on Monday that Tokyo had opened a probe over past balloon sightings over Japan, with similar aircraft reported in a number of northern locations, including the city of Sendai in June 2020. There were similar sightings over Aomori Prefecture in September 2021.

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