Japan may release proof of China ‘radar lock’

Japan might disclose evidence to bolster its claim that a Chinese frigate locked its weapon-targeting radar on a Japanese ship, after China rejected the charge, officials say. The incident, which Japan said happened last week, marked the first time the two nations’ navies have locked horns in a territorial dispute that has some commentators warning about possible armed conflict. The neighbours, also the world’s second and third-largest economies, have seen ties sour over uninhabited Japanese-controlled islands in the East China Sea known as Senkaku in Tokyo and Diaoyu by Beijing, which claims them. “The government is considering the extent of what can be disclosed,” Itsunori Onodera, Japan’s defence minister, said on a television programme on Saturday. Onodera also proposed setting up a military hotline between the two countries, “so that we would be able to communicate swiftly when this kind of incident happens.”