A war of words flared Friday between Japan and China over fire-control radar lock-ons by Chinese warships against Maritime Self-Defense Force elements last month, with Beijing dismissing the allegations and Tokyo calling China's reaction "totally unacceptable."
The two sides blame each other for raising tension over the incidents, one in which a Chinese frigate's target radar locked onto an MSDF chopper and a Jan. 30 incident in which another frigate sailing close to an MSDF destroyer did likewise on the high seas near the Japan-controlled Senkaku Islands.
On Thursday evening, Beijing responded to an earlier protest and inquiries lodged by the Liberal Democratic Party government, dismissing allegations that the two Chinese frigates directed their fire-control radar, at the chopper and the destroyer, on two separate occasions because this account "does not match the facts."