Japan, US fly fighters in response to a joint air patrol by Chinese, Russian warplanes

Japanese and United States forces have conducted a joint fighter jet flying over the Sea of Japan in an apparent response to a joint air patrol by Chinese and Russian warplanes over the Sea of Japan, the East China Sea and the West Pacific Ocean on Tuesday when the leaders of Quad countries held their in-person summit in Tokyo.

Japan's Defence Ministry said today that four F-15 fighter jets from the Japan Air Self-Defence Force Chitose Air Base and four F-16s from US Misawa Air Base, both in northern Japan, flew together yesterday afternoon for training. It was meant to confirm the combined capabilities of the two militaries and further strengthen the Japan-U.S. alliance, according to the Ministry.

Chinese Ministry of Defence said that China



and Russia conducted routine joint strategic air patrols on Tuesday while media reports from Tokyo quoted Japanese Defence Minister Nobuo Kishi saying that Japan had expressed grave concerns over the joint sorties. 

Chinese Defence Ministry Spokesperson Wu Qian said, the operation is not aimed at a third party and has nothing to do with the current international and regional situation. China and Russia have been conducting annual military drills in the Pacific in the past. 

Parallelly, the Chinese Foreign Ministry in Beijing asserted that China-Russia relations have withstood the new test of the changing international landscape and were moving forward in the right direction.