Japan Scrambles Jets as Chinese Aircraft Pass Near Southern Islands

International airspace

 Japan scrambled fighter jets on Wednesday after a Chinese military aircraft flew through international airspace near its southern islands out over the Pacific for the first time, in a move seen by Japan as underlining China's maritime expansion.

Ties between China and Japan have been strained by a territorial dispute over uninhabited East China Sea islets and hawkish Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe won a decisive victory in upper house elections on Sunday.