US bombers in Chinese airspace
Print Edition
China’s defense ministry said yesterday it had monitored the entire progress of two unarmed US B-52 bombers that flew over the Diaoyu Islands in the East China Sea on a training mission without informing Beijing.
The US move, in defiance of China’s declaration of a new air defense identification zone, raised the stakes in a territorial standoff.
Defense ministry spokesman Geng Yansheng said the US aircraft flew south and north along the eastern border of the newly established East China Sea Air Defense Identification Zone from 11am to 1:22pm on Tuesday, about 200 kilometers to the east of the Diaoyu Islands.
The Chinese army monitored the entire process, carried out identification in a timely manner, and ascertained the type of aircraft, Geng said.
“We need to stress that China will identify every aircraft flying in the Air Defense Identification Zone according to the country’s announcement of aircraft identification rules for the air defense identification zone,” Geng said.
Under the rules declared by China, aircraft are instructed to provide a flight plan, clearly mark their nationality and maintain two-way radio communication so they can respond to identification queries from Chinese authorities. Any that do not comply can face “defensive emergency measures.”
Japan, the United States and several other governments rejected the zone after it was announced over the weekend.
The B-52 flight was a signal of US support for Japan, with which Washington has a security pact.
Its new ambassador to Tokyo, Caroline Kennedy, said yesterday: “The Japanese can see every day that America is here for them as a partner in the defense of Japan.”
Japanese airlines, under pressure from Tokyo, stopped following China’s new rules yesterday after initially complying.
Chinese officials accused Japan and the US — which both have air defense identification zones — of double standards and argue that the real provocateur is Tokyo.
The territorial dispute over the Diaoyu Islands escalated in September 2012 when Japan “purchased” three of the islands from so-called private owners.
China accused Japan of changing the status quo and has since sent ships and planes to the islands in repeated displays of force, prompting Japan to scramble fighter jets 386 times in the 12 months to September.
After an unidentified drone flew around the area, Tokyo threatened to shoot down such aircraft in future, which Beijing warned would be an “act of war.”
Chinese reaction to the US bomber flights was predictably angry, with some recalling the 2001 collision between a Chinese fighter and a US surveillance plane off China’s southeast coast. The Chinese pilot, Wang Wei, was killed in the crash and the US crew forced to land on China’s Hainan Island, where they were held for 10 days and interrogated before being released.
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