Japan's Kyodo news agency reported on May 19, 2017, that China had claimed on May 19, that a drone that flew near a group of Japan-controlled islands belonged to a media outlet, not to its coast guard. Chinese Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Hua Chunying, speaking at a press briefing, said the drone was filming the area from the air, but declined to provide other details, including what media organization it belongs to. Japan had scrambled an F-15 fighter jet in response to the flight of a drone-like object for the first time around the islands claimed by China.

Separately, Japan on May 17, lodged a protest with China after four China Coast Guard vessels entered Japanese waters around the Senkaku Islands in the East China Sea.