Japan scrambles fighters as Chinese plane flies over disputed islands

Tokyo scrambled F-15 fighter jets on Thursday after a Chinese state-owned plane entered airspace over islands disputed by the two countries. A Chinese maritime aircraft ventured over the Senkaku islands, called the Diaoyu Islands in China, just after 0200 GMT, Chief Cabinet Secretary Osamu Fujimura said, as cited by AFP. Confrontations have become commonplace since Japan nationalized the East China Sea islands in September. Thursday marks the 75th anniversary of the beginning of the Nanjing Massacre, when Japanese Imperial Army troops entered the then-capital of China.