Ambassadors summoned in zone row
Print Edition
China and Japan raised the temperature in a territorial dispute yesterday with both sides summoning the other’s ambassador over Beijing’s declaration of an air defense zone.
“I am strongly concerned as it is a profoundly dangerous act that may cause unintended consequences,” Japan’s Prime Minister Shinzo Abe told the Japanese parliament.
“Japan will ask China to restrain itself while we continue cooperating with the international community,” he said.
China’s Assistant Foreign Minister Zheng Zeguang summoned the Japanese ambassador Kitera Masato and lodged solemn representations over Japan’s malicious accusations regarding the East China Sea Air Defense Identification Zone, which was established on Saturday.
The establishment of the zone aims to defend China’s national sovereignty and its territorial and airspace security, as well as safeguard the flight order over the East China Sea, Zheng said, stressing that the zone accords with international law and practice.
More than 20 countries, including Japan, have set up air defense identification zones since the 1950s, Zheng told Masato.
Stressing that the Diaoyu Islands are an inherent part of the Chinese territory, Zheng said it was natural for the zone to cover the area.
“The Japanese side is not entitled to make irresponsible remarks and malicious accusations against China,” Zheng said, urging Japan to immediately correct its mistakes, stop any acts that create friction and undermine regional stability, and avoid further damage to China-Japan relations.
Also yesterday, Chinese foreign ministry spokesman Qin Gang said that China is firm in its resolve and will to safeguard sovereignty over the Diaoyu Islands.
Later in the day, Japanese Vice Foreign Minister Akitaka Saiki summoned Chinese Ambassador Cheng Yonghua to “protest the move in person,” a day after Saiki’s deputy protested to China by phone.
“China believes it is the Japanese side that should withdraw its unreasonable demand,” Cheng told reporters after meeting with Saiki. “But both of us should try to take cautionary steps in order to prevent unanticipated occurrences.”
China’s foreign ministry also said it had complained to the United States over its “irresponsible remarks” about the zone.
US Secretary of State John Kerry and Secretary of Defense Chuck Hagel had both said the US was “deeply concerned.”
Japanese Foreign Minister Fumio Kishida told US Ambassador Caroline Kennedy by phone that he appreciated the American response. The two agreed their countries would continue to cooperate closely on the issue.
China’s foreign ministry spokesman said US Ambassador Gary Locke had been told on Sunday that the US should “correct its mistakes and stop making irresponsible remarks on China.”
China’s defense ministry called Japan’s objections to the zone “absolutely groundless and unacceptable” and said it had also protested to the Japanese Embassy in Beijing.
Defense ministry spokesman Yang Yujun said the ministry had complained to the US Embassy’s military attache on Sunday evening.
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