As relations with China continue to deteriorate, Japan is embarking on its biggest military buildup in at least four decades.

TOKYO (AP) — Japan and Australia urged calm on Sunday after Chinese military aircraft locked radar on Japanese fighter jets, a month after the Japanese leader’s recent remarks on Taiwan that stirred tensions between Tokyo and Beijing.

In a world beset by conflict in the Middle East and an enduring war in Ukraine, tensions are again heating up in East Asia. Will cooler heads prevail?

Japan and Germany are strengthening their militaries as they seek to increase defense readiness amid tensions with larger neighbors.

The Japanese government is taking uncomfortable steps to prepare its citizens for a possible future war that its military would not be able to avoid.

Japan's Defense Minister Koizumi Shinjiro has again expressed concern over Chinese military aircraft directing radar at Japanese Air Self-Defense Force fighter jets over international waters off Okinawa's main island in southern Japan on Saturday.

China and Japan ties, already frayed by comments made by Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi on Taiwan, came under further strain at the weekend after a Chinese fighter aircraft trained fire-control radar on Japanese military jets for the first time.

Tokyo has summoned Beijing's ambassador after Chinese military aircraft locked radar onto Japanese jets, the latest incident in the row ignited after Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi's comments backing Taiwan.