TOKYO: Japan scrambled jets in response to Chinese drones 30 times during the past year, the military said, up over threefold year-on-year as Beijing bolsters its air force. "Overall, we are seeing the trend staying at a high level," Japan's military chief of staff Yoshihide Yoshida said at a press conference on Thursday (Apr 10). In the financial year to Mar 31, Japan scrambled fighter jets 704 times to intercept foreign aircraft. Of those, 464 - or 66 per cent - were for aircraft or drones