The United States has for the first time criticized China for aiming radars at Japanese military aircraft during a training exercise last week, about which the Asian neighbors have given differing accounts amid escalating tensions .

The run-in near Japan’s Okinawa islands comes after Japanese Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi set off a dispute with Beijing last month with her remarks on how Tokyo might react to a hypothetical Chinese attack on Taiwan .

China claims democratically governed Taiwan and has not ruled out using force to take control of the island, which sits just over 62 miles from Japanese territory and is surrounded by sea lanes on which Tokyo relies.

“China’s actions are not conducive to regional peace and stability,” a State Department spokesperson said lat

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