Japan on Tuesday dismissed speculation linking China's military to a recent accident involving a Ground Self-Defense Force helicopter that went missing last week after presumably crashing off Okinawa Prefecture.
The Defense Ministry has not found any links between China and the apparent crash on April 6 of the GSDF UH-60JA multipurpose helicopter off Miyako Island, ministry spokesman Takeshi Aoki told a news conference.
His remarks came amid online speculation that Chinese forces shot down the chopper with a missile or a drone or attacked the radio waves of the helicopter, causing it to lose control.
All 10 aboard the helicopter remain unaccounted for. Search efforts for the chopper have been hampered by the coral reefs in the area where it lost contact.
Speculations were further fueled by information released by the Defense Ministry prior to the incident. The ministry had said that Chinese navy reconnaissance and frigate vessels were spotted sailing through nearby waters early Thursday.
At a parliamentary session last week, an opposition lawmaker asked Defense Minister Yasukazu Hamada about the connection between the Chinese ships and the incident. Hamada said that his ministry has not received reports suggesting any connection.
Noting that the helicopter went missing at 3:56 p.m. on Thursday, Aoki said there was a "huge difference" between the time the incident occurred and the time the Chinese vessels were confirmed being in the area.
About 400 kilometers east of Taiwan, Miyako Island is home to a GSDF land-to-ship missile unit. It is adjacent to the East China Sea and close to the Japanese-controlled Senkaku Islands, which are claimed by China and called the Diaoyu.