Mystery aircraft spotted at Japan base; Takaichi's latest bid to incite Xi to end badly for Tokyo?

China is already furious about Japan’s new defense doctrine – and now a mystery aircraft at Gifu Air Base is adding fuel to the fire. Days after Beijing slammed Tokyo’s “militarisation,” Japanese aviation spotters posted images of a jet at Gifu draped in white fabric, revealing only a twin‑tail silhouette roughly comparable in size to an F‑15. Is Japan actively testing something it doesn’t want to show the world yet? For Beijing, already warning that Japan is “turning the region into a powder keg,” the optics could not be worse.