A Chinese military frigate locked its weapon-targeting radar on a Japanese navy vessel on at least one occasion, Japan’s defence minister said Tuesday

TOKYO: A Chinese military frigate locked its weapon-targeting radar on a Japanese navy vessel on at least one occasion, Japan’s defence minister said on Tuesday, in an apparent upping of the stakes in a bitter territorial row, reports news agencies.

“On January 30, something like fire-control radar was directed at a Japan Self-Defense Maritime escort ship in the East China Sea. The defence ministry today confirmed radar for targeting was used,” Itsunori Onodera told reporters in Tokyo. Onodera said a Japanese military helicopter was also locked with a similar radar a few days earlier.