China dismisses Japan's charge of locking radars at ships

China today rejected Japan's allegations that its frigates locked their radars at a Japanese naval ship and helicopter, dismissing it as a petty and false trick aimed to hype up the "China threat". "Japan's remarks are completely making something out of nothing," the Chinese Foreign Ministry said today. The Defence Ministry here came out with a detailed rejoinder denying Tokyo's charge that Chinese frigates while patrolling the disputed islands in the East China Sea, resorted to offensive tactics by locking radars on Japanese forces last month, triggering fresh tensions. The Chinese Defence Ministry which claimed to have conducted a "sincere" probe into the allegations said that Japan's "irresponsible" remarks were made to mislead international public opinion. "Recently, Japan has repeatedly spread false accusations that have distorted facts and defamed Chinese military's normal combat readiness training," the statement reported by state-run Xinhua news agency said. Japan's defence ministry has alleged that a Chinese naval frigate directed its fire-control radar at a destroyer of the Japanese Maritime Self-Defense Force (JSDF) in the East China Sea on January 30. Also another Chinese frigate was suspected of locking a similar radar on a JSDF helicopter on January 19 in the East China Sea while patrolling the disputed islands called Diaoyu by China and Senkakus by Japan. "Japanese side's remarks are against the facts" the statement said, adding that Japanese warships and airplanes have often conducted long and close-in monitoring and surveillance over China's naval ships and aircraft. This "is the root cause to air and maritime safety issues between China and Japan," it said. China has lodged representations to the Japanese side many times, the statement said and accused Japan of unilaterally releasing untrue information to the media and making irresponsible remarks that hyped up the "China threat", without verifying related facts with the Chinese side. The statement said Japan's allegations this time "recklessly" created tensions and misled international public opinion, it said apparently referring to strong reactions from US Defence Secretary, Leon Panetta. "China hopes that Japan will take effective measures and stop stirring up tensions in the East China Sea, and stop making irresponsible remarks," the statement said. (MORE)