April 21, 2010
Tokyo, April 21 (Jiji Press) -- The Japanese government spent days before lodging protests with China over what it saw as a dangerous act by a Chinese military helicopter, State Secretary for Foreign Affairs Koichi Takemasa said Wednesday.
The Chinese navy's helicopter, while on exercises in the East China Sea, flew very close to a Japanese destroyer on a patrol mission on April 8.
Speaking before the House of Representatives Foreign Affairs Committee, Takemasa said the government protested the incident on April 12.
The Defense Ministry notified the Foreign Ministry of the case on the day it happened, but Foreign Ministry bureaucrats did not give the information to Foreign Minister Katsuya Okada until April 12, Takemasa said.
The largest opposition Liberal Democratic Party criticized the government for what it sees as lax crisis management.
(2010/04/21-16:14)
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