Japan mobilizes troops after Chinese drone flies near Taiwan

Japan activated its air defenses Monday after detecting a suspected Chinese drone flying between Yonaguni Island, its closest inhabited point to Taiwan, and Taiwanese territory. The incident marks a new escalation in the diplomatic crisis with Beijing and is already causing economic turbulence.

The Ministry of Defense reported on social media platform X, that on Nov. 15 the unmanned aircraft was identified and that, in response, the Air Self-Defense Force mobilized fighter jets to monitor the incursion.

The incident adds to the escalation sparked by Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi, who on Nov. 7 warned that an eventual use of force by China against Taiwan could amount to a "threat to Japan's survival", a reference that opens the door, under Japanese law, to a possible military intervention by Tokyo.

Immediate impact on markets

The growing frictions with China were immediately reflected in the Tokyo stock market. This Monday, the shares of companies linked to tourism, trade and domestic consumption registered sharp falls, after Beijing recommended its citizens to avoid traveling to Japan, according to information from the AFP.

The Chinese warning comes at a delicate time for Japan, whose economy contracted 0.4% in the third quarter, according to official data released Monday.

China is the country's main tourist flow: 7.5 million Chinese tourists arrived between January and September, spending more than $1 billion a month in the third quarter, boosted by the weak yen.

Diplomacy on the move

Both governments last week recalled their ambassadors for consultations. In an effort to contain the crisis, Masaaki Kanai, head of Asia-Pacific affairs at the Japanese Foreign Ministry, traveled to China on Monday to meet with his counterpart Liu Jinsong to seek a de-escalation path.

Concerns in Tokyo were heightened not only by the presence of the drone, but also by Chinese maritime activity. Chief Cabinet Minister Minoru Kihara reported that on Sunday Chinese coast guard vessels remained for several hours within Japanese territorial waters near the Senkaku Islands, known in China as Diaoyu and claimed by both countries.

Taiwan lies barely 100 kilometers from Yonaguni, making the dispute over its future a central point of tension between east Asia's two largest economies. Beijing insists that the island is part of its territory and does not rule out regaining control by force.