Japan ‘talking nonsense’ over its call to scrap ADIZ
Print Edition
China’s foreign ministry yesterday slammed Japan’s lower house of parliament for passing a resolution demanding that its newly established air defense zone over the East China Sea be scrapped.
Japan had no right to “talk nonsense,” it said.
On November 23, China declared an air defense identification zone in an area that includes the Diaoyu Islands which are at the heart of a territorial dispute with Japan.
Japanese lawmakers adopted a resolution protesting China’s “reckless and risky measures” and said they would never accept the Chinese government’s “unilateral attempts to change the status quo.”
Chinese foreign ministry spokesman Hong Lei told reporters at a daily briefing that China had every right to establish its East China Sea Air Defense Identification Zone, which it said was a reasonable and legal thing to do.
“On this issue, Japan has no right to talk nonsense, and China resolutely opposes this. What Japan should be doing at the moment is to stop these kinds of wrong actions, stop quibbling and stop its provocations,” Hong said.
Under the rules of the Chinese airspace zone, all aircraft have to report flight plans to Chinese authorities and maintain radio contact.
US, Japanese and South Korean military aircraft have breached the zone without informing Beijing, and China’s military has scrambled its fighter jets at least once.
Japanese and South Korean commercial carriers have been told by their governments to ignore the rules.
Three US airlines, acting on government advice, are notifying China of plans to transit the zone.
China says the zone has not affected the free movement of civil aircraft and that it is needed to reduce the risk of misunderstandings.
South Korea has said it is reviewing its options on its similar zone, mostly to ensure it is revised to cover a number of submerged rocks, including the Socotra Rock, known in China as the Suyan Islet, within China’s exclusive economic zone, which partially overlaps the South Korean one.
Senior officials have been meeting this week and a formal announcement is expected at some time.
Seoul has said it will consult with its neighbors and explain its position. Hong said that if South Korea were to expand its zone, it must “accord with international law and norms.”
“China is willing to maintain communication with South Korea on the basis of equality and mutual respect,” he said.
Hong said an ADIZ is not part of a country’s territorial airspace and has nothing to do with the administrative rights over sea and airspace. It is established for identification and early warning.
South Korea’s air defense identification zone was set up by the US air force in 1951.
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