Japan’s Defense Minister Nakatani Gen said last week that the Japan Air Self-Defense Force (JASDF) scrambled its fighter aircraft 30 times in fiscal year 2024 in response to Chinese military drones approaching Japan. That marked the highest total recorded in a year since such air operations began in 1958.
“In recent years, China’s military activities around Japan have been expanding and becoming more active, and we believe that the flights of these Chinese drones are part of that,” Japan’s defense minister said at a press conference on April 4.
In particular, according to Japan’s Ministry of Defense the activity of Chinese unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs) is increasing rapidly in the airspace around the Nansei Islands in Japan’s southwestern island chain, which spans about 1,200 kilometers from Kagoshima to Okinawa, stretching southwest toward Taiwan.
The record number of flights Japanese fighter pilots made to intercept Chinese drones approaching the Nansei Islands during FY2024 (which ended on March 31, 2025) was more than seven times the number recorded in FY2021, when four Chinese drones were detected. (The count of 30 drones includes some that were presumed to be from China, but it could not be definitively proven.)
Among the drones, 17 flew between Japan’s Yonaguni Island and Taiwan on a round trip that went out to the Pacific Ocean and back to the East China Sea. Yonaguni Island is the westernmost island of Japan, lying only 110 km (68 miles) from Taiwan.
On June 4, 2024, one TB-001 reconnaissance/attack drone passed between the main island of Okinawa and Miyako Island, flew over the Pacific Ocean, and then headed north, proceeding for the first time to the east of Amami Oshima in Kagoshima Prefecture. Following a similar flight route, on February 26, 2025, one BZK-005 reconnaissance drone and one GJ-2 reconnaissance/attack drone each flew to the waters off Amami Oshima. In addition, on February 28 this year, one TB-001 reconnaissance/attack drone also flew to the waters off Amami Oshima.
These flights represent the fact that China is accelerating its military activities on the east side of the First Island Chain, which it considers to be its defense line against the U.S. military and the frontline of the Sino-U.S. rivalry.
Taiwan, located at the center of the First Island Chain, is a strategically important place for both Beijing and Washington.
China is bolstering the operational capabilities of its drones around Taiwan, which Beijing regards as a renegade province that must be eventually united with the mainland, by force if necessary. It was in FY2023 that the Japanese Defense Ministry confirmed for the first time a Chinese UAV flying through the airspace between Yonaguni Island and Taiwan.
The Chinese drones that have been confirmed by the Japanese Defense Ministry include six types: the TB-001 reconnaissance/attack drone, the BZK-005 reconnaissance drone, the BZK-007 reconnaissance drone, the WL-10 reconnaissance/attack drone, the WZ-7 reconnaissance drone, and the GJ-2 reconnaissance/attack drone. All of these drones have fixed wings.
According to the Japanese Ministry of Defense, a Chinese BZK-005 reconnaissance drone passed between the main island of Okinawa and Miyako Island, flew over the Pacific Ocean, and then headed north, proceeding to the east of Amami Oshima in Kagoshima Prefecture on Feb. 26, 2025. Photo: Japanese Ministry of Defense.
As The Diplomat reported in February, China is ramping up its military operations of aircraft and ships in the skies and waters near Japan, raising tensions in the Nansei Islands. In recent years, the operational area of Chinese military aircraft, whether manned or unmanned, has been expanding. The People’s Liberation Army Navy (PLAN)’s aircraft carrier strike groups now routinely pass through the straits of the Nansei Islands and operate in the Pacific Ocean.
China Coast Guard (CCG) patrol vessels also have been taking a more aggressive approach in and around the periphery of the disputed islands located in the East China Sea between Japan and China. Most recently, CCG patrol vessels entered the territorial waters of the islands, which are known as the Senkaku Islands in Japan and the Diaoyu Islands in China, on March 21, and stayed for a record 92 hours and 8 minutes.
Meanwhile, the CCG website said on March 24, “The Diaoyu Islands and its affiliated islands are China’s inherent territory.”
“We urge Japan to immediately stop all illegal activities in the waters,” it added.
“China has continued and strengthened its attempts to unilaterally change the status quo by force, including the intrusion of its coast guard vessels into territorial waters around the Senkaku Islands, and has been intensifying its military activities around Taiwan,” Nakatani, Japan’s defense minister, said.
“China’s external posture and military trends are a matter of serious concern for Japan and the international community, and we believe that this should be addressed through Japan’s overall national strength and cooperation with allies and like-minded countries,” he added.