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Us air defense zone2/21/2023 Taiwan, which also claims the islands, expressed regret at the Chinese move and promised that its military would take measures to protect national security. Japan has already lodged a strong protest over what it said was an escalation by China. The White House said it was unnecessarily inflammatory. US Defense Secretary Chuck Hagel called it a destabilizing attempt to alter the status quo in the region. The US - which has more than 70,000 troops in Japan and South Korea - had previously said it would not abide by the Chinese-imposed zone. The aircraft, which were unarmed, had taken off from Guam on Monday and the flight was part of a regular exercise in the area, US defense officials said. There had been no response from China, he added. We have continued to follow our normal procedures, which include not filing flight plans, not radioing ahead and not registering our frequencies, he said. US Colonel Steve Warren at the Pentagon said Washington had conducted operations in the area of the Senkakus. Japan has dismissed the Chinese defense zone as not valid at all and two of its biggest airlines announced on Tuesday they would heed a request from the government in Tokyo not to implement the new rules. The islands, known as Senkaku in Japan and Diaoyu in China, are a source of rising tension between the two nations. China set up its air defense identification zone on Saturday insisting that aircraft obey its rules or face emergency defensive measures.Ī Pentagon spokesman said the planes had followed normal procedures. US has flown two B-52 bombers over disputed islands in the East China Sea in defiance of new Chinese air defense rules, officials say. But China rejected the request, said a spokesman for South Korea’s Defense Ministry, Kim Min-seok, according to the Yonhap report.The islands, known as Senkaku in Japan and Diaoyu in China, are a source of rising tension between the two nations Like Japan, South Korea claims sovereignty over some territory in seas beneath the airspace, but Seoul enjoys warmer ties with Beijing than does Tokyo.ĭuring a previously scheduled defense meeting on Thursday, South Korea asked China to change the boundaries of the new zone, according to the South Korean Yonhap news agency. Chinese officials said they had monitored the flight by what the South Koreans described as a surveillance aircraft. The South Korean government announced that it, too, had flown aircraft through the zone without alerting Beijing. On Thursday, Japan’s top government spokesman, Yoshihide Suga, said that the Chinese had not been notified of the Japanese flights, and reported that China had not scrambled its fighter jets to intercept them. In a further clarification of its original stance, the People’s Liberation Army said Thursday that the new air zone was “not a territorial airspace” and did not mean that China would take immediate military action against aircraft that entered the zone.Īt a monthly briefing for Chinese reporters, a spokesman, Yang Yujun, said it was “incorrect” to suggest China would shoot down planes in the zone. On Wednesday, a Foreign Ministry spokesman said China would decide on a case-by-case basis how strongly to respond to those who break its rules. But the unexpected move is also seen as another attempt by an increasingly assertive China to establish itself as the dominant regional power, displacing the United States.Ĭhina had seemed to be stepping back this week from its original harsh tone, when it said aircraft entering the airspace needed to file flight plans in advance or face the possibility of military action. Responding to the situation, the State Department said, “We have urged the Chinese to exercise caution and restraint, and we are consulting with Japan and other affected parties throughout the region.”Īnalysts have said that China’s declaration of the new zone is meant to whittle away at Japan’s hold on the islands. Elsewhere, the paper said that the United States was not the target of the new zone.
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