Japan scrambles jet to monitor Chinese military drone near Taiwan

Japan's defence ministry said on Monday it scrambled a fighter jet to monitor a Chinese BZK-005 military drone spotted flying between Japan's westernmost Yonaguni island and Taiwan in the morning.

The spy drone came from the East China Sea north of Taiwan and went to the Bashi Channel that separates Taiwan's southern coast and the Philippines, the ministry said.

On Friday, Japan also scrambled its Air Self-Defense Force fighters to Chinese bombers flying near Japan's Okinawa island, home to a major US military base, as well as to drones spotted near self-ruled Taiwan.