Japan scrambled fighter jets 306 times in response to intruding Chinese aircraft in fiscal 2012 through March, a record high, the Defense Ministry's Joint Staff said Wednesday.
It is the first time scrambles against Chinese planes have surpassed those against Russian aircraft. For fiscal 2012, scrambles against Russian aircraft totaled 248, an increase by one incident from the previous fiscal year.
Scrambles by Air Self-Defense Force jets against Chinese aircraft rose due to heightened tensions over the Japanese-administered Senkaku Islands in the East China Sea following Tokyo's effective nationalization last September of the islet chain.