A Chinese military expert said that Japan has overreacted after spotting eight Chinese military planes over the East China Sea and Japan Sea on Jan. 9, explaining that it was nothing more than routine military training.

Japan's Ministry of Defense said on Jan. 9 that eight Chinese military aircraft, consisting of one early warning plane, one intelligence-gathering plane and six bombers, had appeared over the East China Sea and Japan Sea. The statement also noted that Japan immediately sent military planes to deal with them. Many Japanese net users said on social media that they saw Japanese military aircraft taking off from different airports in Japan, including military bases at Naha, Hamamatsu and Komatsu.

Fu Qianshao, a Beijing-based air defense expert, noted that Japan panicked and overreacted to the routine training, which indicates that Japanese officials may have wanted to deliberately hype up the event and act as troublemakers.