On February 7, former Prime Minister and DPJ President Yoshihiko Noda released a statement responding to articles carried by certain newspapers that day. The articles claimed that Chinese ships had directed fire-control radar on Japanese destroyers during the DPJ administration, and that Noda and his Cabinet members intentionally concealed such incidents despite receiving reports about them. The statement by Noda is as follows:

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Nikkei and some other newspapers wrote on February 7, 2013, that Chinese ships also used fire-control radar during the DPJ administration, and that Cabinet members at that time, including myself and Deputy Prime Minister Katsuya Okada, ‘avoided publishing the facts with the intention of preventing the worsening of Japan-China relations.’

There were no reports of any such incidents at the time. The Ministry of Defense has also said that these reports are false. I am truly disappointed to see these newspapers report stories which are absolutely not true.