Japan's government is considering relaxing the requirements for weapon use against flying objects that violate its airspace, lawmakers said Wednesday, a day after it said China may have flown spy balloons over the country in recent years.
At a meeting of the Liberal Democratic Party, headed by Prime Minister Fumio Kishida, government officials said they are eager to allow the Self-Defense Forces to discharge their weapons in such circumstances provided that the purpose is to secure the safety of air traffic, according to the lawmakers.
Currently, Japan's forces can only use weapons for legitimate self-defense or the avoidance of clear and present danger. The SDF law stipulates that "necessary measures" can be taken to expel foreign aircraft or make them land if they enter Japan's skies.
The latest move came after the Defense Ministry said Tuesday that at least three unidentified flying objects were spotted over the nation's territorial airspace over three years from 2019 and are "strongly suspected" to have been unmanned spy balloons flown by China.
The three flying objects were detected in Kagoshima Prefecture, southwestern Japan, in November 2019 and the northeastern prefectures of Miyagi and Aomori in June 2020 and September 2021, respectively, the ministry said.
A ministry official said it was the first time the Japanese government has made such an announcement since U.S. forces shot down a similar Chinese balloon on Feb. 4 off the coast of South Carolina, renewing tensions between Washington and China.
In Beijing, Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesman Wang Wenbin on Wednesday criticized Japan over the announcement, saying, "Without clear evidence, Japan is making up stories to smear and attack China and we are firmly opposed to this."
Wang said China is "a responsible country" and has "never infringed on any sovereign country's territory or airspace." Beijing maintains it had been unaware of any past flying objects spotted in Japan.
He urged Japan to be "objective and just" and refrain from following the United States in "hyping up" the balloon incident.
Denying that the balloon was being used for military purposes, Beijing has lambasted Washington's decision to shoot it down, claiming that U.S. high-altitude balloons have flown illegally over China's airspace more than 10 times since last year.
So far, the U.S. military has shot down four flying objects over North American airspace since early February.
On Wednesday, Japanese lawmakers quoted officials as saying the conditions for weapon use by the SDF should be modified, as the law currently assumes that only manned aircraft could pose a threat to the country. The use of military drones has also been increasing recently.
Weapon use requirements for the SDF are expected to be eased by reviewing operations instead of amending the legislation, the lawmakers added.
Defense Minister Yasukazu Hamada has recognized that the SDF will be allowed to use weapons, including air-to-air missiles, to bring down balloons intruding into its airspace.
Meanwhile, after a white-colored, unidentified flying object was seen in Miyagi in June 2020, then Defense Minister Taro Kono said it did not affect Japan's security.
At the gathering on Wednesday, some LDP members criticized the government's past approach to previous airspace intrusions by flying balloons.
"It is a big problem if the government failed to identify the balloons as Chinese ones. It is a bigger problem if it did not lodge a protest against China even though it identified them as Chinese ones," said former Defense Minister Itsunori Onodera.
Related coverage:
Japan suspects China flew 3 spy balloons over territory in 2019-2021
Japan, U.S., South Korea united on response to Chinese balloon incident
U.S. shoots down another flying object, this time over Lake Huron
