The territorial violation by China is the latest in a series of events amplifying tensions between Beijing and Japan.
A Chinese military surveillance plane breached Japanese airspace off the country’s southwestern coast on Monday, marking what Japan’s defense ministry described as the first known incursion by China’s military into its territorial airspace.
According to a ministry official, a Chinese reconnaissance aircraft briefly entered Japanese territory near Nagasaki Prefecture around 11:30 a.m. on Monday. In response, Japan’s Self-Defense Force put fighter jets on high alert and issued a warning to the Chinese aircraft.
While Chinese planes frequently appear in international airspace around Japan, this incident represents the first confirmed entry of a military aircraft into Japan’s territorial airspace.
Let’s see how much longer, their economy is slowing down significantly, with a lot of international companies withdrawing their manufacturing sites partially or altogether. Even more drastic for IT and other R&D entities that can basically shut down and relocate without moving tons of physical assets around.
Just yesterday IBM shut down their Chinese operations entirely, with more than 30,000 employees across the country effectively out of jobs over night. They announced to move it all to India.
Many manufacturers that target the US are moving to Mexico thanks to the reduced tariffs and customs and shorter supply routes, EU manufacturers are going to Romania and Bulgaria for the same reasons now that they’ve joined the EU (a while ago, but relocating factories takes years).
Manufacturers of cheaper goods and components are increasingly moving to the Philippines, Vietnam and Thailand, where labour costs are a fraction of what China is now - they grew too fast too quick.
I’ve just left China for Malaysia myself (also in the manufacturing business), and many of my associates have done as well or are planning to do so in the next 6-24 months.
China played “too big to fail” and is now learning a harsh lesson, on top of their failed real estate industry that wiped out a third of the GDP, with banks yet to follow. The big awakening will come soon, and I bet people won’t overlook their international transgressions any longer.