US, Japan stand united against China's air zone

Security allies Washington and Tokyo expressed "deep concern" over Beijing's new Air Defence Identification Zone (ADIZ), which both called a unilateral attempt to change the status quo in the East China Sea.

The zone that China declared on Nov 23 dominated talks between visiting US Vice-President Joe Biden and Japan's Prime Minister Shinzo Abe here on Tuesday.

At a joint press conference after the meeting, Mr Abe again called for the ADIZ to be scrapped.

"We will not remain silent at the unilateral move by China to change the status quo by force. Under our strong Japan-US alliance, we will work closely to deal with the issue," he said.

Mr Biden said the US is deeply concerned about China's action, which "has raised regional tensions and increased the risk of accidents and miscalculation".

"This underscores the need for crisis management mechanisms and effective channels of communication between China and Japan to reduce risk of escalation," he said.

Mr Biden made it clear the US would stand by Japan when he said: "We will remain steadfast in our alliance's commitment."

China requires foreign planes to file their flight plans before flying through its ADIZ, and warns of "defensive emergency measures" if they do not cooperate.

Japan's two largest airlines complied, but stopped after the government told them not to.

The US Federal Aviation Administration, however, reminded US airlines to comply with requests by foreign governments.

Earlier in Washington, State Department spokesman Jen Psaki said China should rescind confusing ADIZ procedures that have raised the risk of accidents.

Mr Biden, whose three-nation swing began here on Monday, heads next to Beijing, where he held talks with President Xi Jinping.

US officials briefing reporters said he would urge China to exercise restraint, for instance in how it implements ADIZ procedures.

In written answers to an interview with Asahi Shimbun daily, Mr Biden said the two neighbours need to take "crisis management and confidence-building measures to lower tensions".

Tokyo and Beijing are locked in a territorial dispute over a group of Japanese-controlled islands known as Senkaku, and which the Chinese call Diaoyu.

At their meeting, Mr Biden told his host: "The President and I agree that the US-Japan security arrangement is the cornerstone of our security, not merely in the Pacific region."

Mr Abe said Mr Biden's visit to Tokyo was timely, as the security environment had become increasingly severe.

Both countries agreed to work closely to achieve a deal on the Trans-Pacific Partnership free trade talks by year end.

A new round of negotiations is due to start in Singapore on Saturday.

They also agreed to proceed with the planned relocation of the US Futenma Airbase to another part of Okinawa to lighten the burden on local residents.

In Seoul, the third and last stop for Mr Biden, the government has said it would expand its own ADIZ in response to China's zone. But reports on Tuesday, quoting officials, said Seoul decided to delay any announcement.

"It will not be too late to make a decision once we see what cards Mr Biden will present during talks with Japan and China," said an official.

wengkin@sph.com.sg

Don't overreact, China urges neighbours

Pushing back against growing criticism of its air defence identification zone (ADIZ) in the East China Sea, China said on Tuesday the move did not crimp aviation freedom or raise tensions in the contested region.

Beijing also clarified that the recently declared zone, which overlaps with those of South Korea, Japan and Taiwan, was neither a no-fly zone nor territorial air space.

"This is a necessary move for China to defend its sovereignty, territorial and airspace security as well as to help maintain flight safety in international airspace and is in accordance with international law and practice," the Chinese Defence Ministry said in a lengthy statement on its website.

The Chinese clarification came as US Vice-President Joe Biden, during a meeting with Japanese Premier Shinzo Abe in Tokyo on Tuesday, criticised Beijing for a move that "has raised regional tensions and increased the risk of accidents and miscalculation".

The US also joined its security partner Japan in accusing China of unilaterally changing the status quo in the East China Sea.

But Chinese officials ignored the statements and instead said China was only exercising its sovereign right in setting up an ADIZ.

Speaking at a security forum in Beijing on Tuesday, Vice-Foreign Minister Liu Zhenmin urged China's neighbours and the US not to "overreact", South Korea's Yonhap news agency said.

At a routine press conference, Foreign Ministry spokesman Hong Lei reiterated that China was within its rights to set up the zone. He said that China is not the only country to have an ADIZ. About 20 others, including the US, have them.

It is also not the first to require foreign aircraft entering its ADIZ to give prior notice, he said. Canada, India, South Korea and Thailand all have similar rules.

Currently, most airlines flying into the Chinese air zone have complied and notified China, Mr Hong said, noting that about 30 airlines, 10 countries and three regions are complying.

The zone does not change navigation freedom in the skies over the East China Sea, he added.

Commenting on Mr Biden's suggestion that China and Japan set up a crisis hotline, he accused Tokyo of being "hypocritical" and said it did not really want dialogue over their overlapping air zones.

Chinese officials also rebutted the charge that China had unilaterally changed the status quo and blamed Japan instead for nationalising the disputed Diaoyu/ Senkaku isles in September last year.

"What I want to stress is that China is not the one that has raised tensions in the region, but some other country has exploited the situation to benefit itself," Mr Hong said, referring to Japan.

Likewise, Defence Ministry spokesman Geng Yansheng said Beijing had been forced to make "necessary responses" as a result of the actions of "a certain country".

"The truth is, they have set up an ADIZ as early as 1969 and later expanded this many times... They have no right to criticise China's legal and reasonable behaviour," he said.

On Tuesday, ahead of Mr Biden's visit to Beijing from today to tomorrow, Mr Hong also expressed hopes that China and the US can make new progress in their relations by deepening trust and curbing differences.

hoaili@sph.com.sg

Get a copy of The Straits Times or go to straitstimes.com for more stories.