Japan's PM demands China revoke claim to air zone over disputed islands

http://www.theguardian.com/world/2013/nov/25/japan-shinzo-abe-china-air-zone-disputed-islands

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China's new maritime air defence zone is unenforceable, Japan's prime minister Shinzo Abe said on Monday, in a continuing war of words over air space that includes the area above islands claimed by both countries.

Asian aviation officials said airlines would have to inform China of their flight plans before entering its newly declared "air defence identification zone", forcing carriers to acknowledge China's authority over it.

Abe told a parliamentary session that China's declaration of the zone above the islands (known as the Senkaku in Japan and Diaoyu in China) altered the state of affairs in the East China Sea and escalated a tense situation.

"The measures by the Chinese side have no validity whatsoever on Japan, and we demand China revoke any measures that could infringe upon the freedom of flight in international airspace," Abe said during an upper house session. "It can invite an unexpected occurrence and it is a very dangerous thing as well."

Abe said the measures one-sidedly imposed rules set by the Chinese military on all flights in the zone, and violate the freedom to fly above open sea, a general principle under the international law.

Earlier on Monday, China's foreign ministry said it had complained to the United States over its "irresponsible remarks" about China's drawing up of the zone for the disputed islands, which are administered by Japan.

The US secretary of state, John Kerry, and secretary of defence, Chuck Hagel, have both said the US is "deeply concerned" about China's unilateral action.

"This unilateral action constitutes an attempt to change the status quo in the East China Sea," Kerry said in a statement released on Saturday. "Escalatory action will only increase tensions in the region and create risks of an incident."

China's defence ministry called Japan's objections to the proclamation of its identification zone "absolutely groundless and unacceptable" and said it had made solemn representations to the Japanese embassy in Beijing.

On Saturday, Beijing issued a map of the zone and a set of rules, which say all aircraft must notify Chinese authorities and are subject to emergency military measures if they do not identify themselves or obey Beijing's orders. The area, about two-thirds the size of the UK, covers most of the East China Sea.

Foreign ministry spokesman Qin Gang said in a statement on Sunday that the zone's aim was to defend China's sovereignty and the security of its airspace and land. He said it was not aimed at any country and it did not affect freedom of overflight.

Qin said China made solemn representations on Sunday through the ambassador in Beijing, Gary Locke, for the US "to correct its mistakes and stop making irresponsible remarks on China".

Defence ministry spokesman Yang Yujun said the ministry had complained to the US embassy's military attache on Sunday evening.

While China said the new rules would not affect "normal operations" for international flights, it said it would take "defensive emergency measures" against aircraft that failed to identify themselves properly.

A transport ministry official in Seoul said South Korean planes flying in the new zone would notify China's civil aviation authorities of their flight plans.

Yi Shin-Juang, deputy director of the air-traffic service division of the Taiwan Civil Aeronautics Administration, said Taiwanese carriers would issue similar notifications, but would not be required to adjust flight paths.

An official at the Japan Civil Aviation Bureau said Japanese airlines flying through the region to non-mainland Chinese destinations would probably need to inform China of their plans.

Korean Air said China's proclamation meant flight plans would have to be delivered to Chinese authorities but the routes its pilots took would not be affected.

"No one wants to be in a position where by following Chinese instructions you are giving tacit acknowledgement of their sovereignty over a disputed area," one Asian diplomat said.

"And there is a fear that is precisely the game that is being played – it seems no accident that the disputed Senkaku islands are now in the heart of overlapping zones," the diplomat said.

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