With the Defense Ministry reporting this week that fighter jets were scrambled a record 199 times between April and June in response to Chinese aircraft approaching Japanese airspace, calls for finalizing a stalled maritime and air communication protocol between the two sides are likely to grow.

The need for such a mechanism, intended to prevent unintended clashes at sea, has grown amid apparently intensifying Chinese military activity, including naval and air operations, in areas near the Japanese-controlled Senkaku Islands in the East China Sea. The Senkakus, known as the Diaoyus in China, are also claimed by Beijing.

The so-called Maritime and Aerial Communication Mechanism would be three-tiered, comprising a hotline, meetings between defense authorities and communication protocols between forward military units.