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US Ally Gives Military Shootdown Authorization Against Chinese Drones

US Ally Gives Military Shootdown Authorization Against Chinese Drones

Miami Herald6 days ago
The Japanese government has authorized its military to use force to bring down unmanned aerial aircraft that enter the country's airspace, a policy change with implications for the Japan Self-Defense Forces' responses to the uptick in Chinese drone activity around its territory.
In late June, the Cabinet of Prime Minister Shigeru Ishiba authorized the shootdown, permitted even in the absence of an immediate threat to life, according to Japan's Sankei Shimbun newspaper.
Newsweek has contacted the Japanese prime minister's office and the Chinese Defense Ministry for comment via email.
Japan, a key U.S. treaty ally, is evolving its security policies to reflect the changing landscape of modern warfare, in particular the increasingly sophisticated uncrewed platforms developed by neighboring China.
While the approach is unlikely to affect the defense of Japan's main islands, it leaves open the possibility of an armed clash around the disputed Senkaku or Diaoyu islands in the East China Sea, which Tokyo controls and Beijing claims.
Under a previous legal framework, Japan's air force pilots were permitted to take "necessary measures" against unmanned aircraft entering Japanese airspace but were not allowed to fire upon drones that did not pose a direct threat to human life.
An expanded interpretation of the policy was first announced in February 2023 but only formally adopted by Ishiba's Cabinet last month, the Sankei Shimbun reported. Jin Matsubara, an independent lawmaker representing a district in Tokyo, received confirmation of the policy shift in response to a written inquiry to the government.
In the fiscal year 2024, which concluded at the end of March, Japan's air force jets were scrambled 704 times to intercept Chinese and Russian aircraft approaching its airspace, according to a Japanese Defense Ministry report.
Last year, 30 Chinese unmanned aerial vehicles were detected operating in Japan's air defense identification zone, or ADIZ, data showed. An ADIZ is a buffer zone that extends beyond sovereign airspace, used to identify nearby civilian and military aircraft.
Japan's air force has intercepted 11 Chinese drones since the fiscal year 2025 began in April, according to reports released by the Joint Staff Office of Japan's Defense Ministry. All the activity was detected around Japan's southwestern islands and matched movements reported in Taiwan's air defense zone by the island's Defense Ministry.
Photos published by the Joint Staff Office showed at least three Chinese drone types: the BZK-005, TB-001 and Wing Loong 2 reconnaissance platforms.
Last August, Japan said a crewed Chinese intelligence-gathering plane had violated the airspace above an islet near its southernmost main island of Kyushu. China's Foreign Ministry at the time said the intrusion was unintentional but did not apologize publicly.
Elsewhere in the East China Sea, however, both sides have accused the other of breaching claimed sovereign airspace above the Senkaku island group, which is covered under the U.S.-Japan security treaty. Additionally, Tokyo and Beijing have recently feuded over Chinese gas exploration activities in shared waters.
Jin Matsubara, a Japanese lawmaker, wrote on X, formerly Twitter, on June 30: "With the rapid changes in security, particularly in military matters, we must constantly update our efforts."
Guo Jiakun, a spokesperson for the Chinese Foreign Ministry, said on June 25: "China upholds and remains committed to the comprehensive and effective implementation of the principled consensus on the East China Sea issue. We hope Japan will work in the same direction with China and make an effort to resume the intergovernmental negotiation between the two countries at an early date."
Japan's military is developing ground-based anti-drone technology that includes direct energy weapons, or lasers. In the air, its air force jets must rely on missiles and guns to engage drones that breach its sovereign airspace.
To date, none of the Chinese drones detected near Japanese territory has been accused of entering Japan's airspace. The policy change could nonetheless add to existing friction between the two governments.
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Los Angeles Times

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President Donald Trump to meet NATO secretary general as plan takes shape for Ukraine weapons sales
President Donald Trump to meet NATO secretary general as plan takes shape for Ukraine weapons sales

Chicago Tribune

time2 hours ago

  • Chicago Tribune

President Donald Trump to meet NATO secretary general as plan takes shape for Ukraine weapons sales

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The Hill

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  • The Hill

Elon Musk is no Ross Perot

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He could legitimately claim outsider status. Musk talking about government waste sounds like a meth addict lecturing about sobriety. His companies gorged themselves on federal subsidies for decades. He personally benefited from programs he now claims to oppose. The hypocrisy stinks from orbit. The political landscape has also shifted dramatically since 1992. Perot faced two establishment candidates, the president, George H.W. Bush and his Democratic challenger Bill Clinton. Voters hungered for alternatives. The third-party lane stretched wide and inviting. Today's political map offers no such opening. Trump already occupies the anti-establishment space. He owns the outsider brand, despite being president. Musk cannot out-populist the master populist. The media environment has transformed beyond recognition. In 1992, Perot could command television attention through sheer novelty. Cable news was young. Social media did not exist. A billionaire buying airtime could reach millions of uncommitted voters. Now everyone screams into the digital void. Attention spans shrink by the nanosecond. Musk's X antics already overexpose him. His brand suffers from overexposure, not invisibility. Perot also offered policy substance beneath the theatrics. His deficit charts bored audiences, yet they conveyed serious proposals. He understood complex economic issues. His solutions made mathematical sense, even if they were politically unrealistic. Musk offers conspiracy theories and vanity projects. His policy knowledge barely scratches the surface. He confuses tweeting with governing. He mistakes social media engagement for political support. The coalition mathematics doom Musk from the start. Perot drew votes from both parties roughly equally. His appeal crossed traditional lines. Fiscal conservatives and government skeptics existed in both camps. Musk's potential supporters cluster overwhelmingly on the right. He cannot build a truly bipartisan coalition. Democratic voters despise him. His only hope lies in cannibalizing Republican support. This creates a fatal strategic problem. Every vote Musk gains likely comes from Trump's column. He cannot expand the anti-establishment coalition because he lacks cross-party appeal. He can only divide it. The structural barriers have hardened since Perot's time. Ballot access requirements have increased. Campaign finance laws favor established parties. The debate commission now excludes third parties more effectively. Perot qualified for the presidential debates in 1992. Those appearances legitimized his candidacy. Current rules make such inclusion nearly impossible. Without debate access, third parties wither in obscurity. The fundamental character differences matter most. Perot, for all his quirks, projected competence. He ran a disciplined campaign. He stayed on message. He treated politics seriously. Musk treats everything as a game. He changes positions hourly. He picks fights on social media. He lacks the temperament for sustained political combat. Perot understood American voters. He spoke their language. He shared their concerns. He offered real solutions to real problems. Musk lives in a Silicon Valley bubble. He mistakes X for reality. He confuses online engagement with electoral support. He fundamentally misunderstands the American electorate. The comparison insults Perot's legacy. He may have been eccentric, demanding and difficult, but he changed American politics permanently. He forced both parties to address fiscal responsibility. He proved that third parties could compete. Musk offers nothing comparable — no serious policy agenda, no coherent vision, no sustainable coalition. His proposed new party is just another billionaire's vanity project disguised as political reform. The America Party will follow the same trajectory as Musk's other attention-grabbing schemes — media frenzy, gradual reality, ultimate failure. John Mac Ghlionn is a writer and researcher who explores culture, society and the impact of technology on daily life.

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