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Japan and South Korea Fly Military Planes in Zone Set by China China Sends Jets Into ‘Air Defense’ Zone After Flights by Japan and South Korea
(about 4 hours later)
TOKYO — Testing China’s response, Japanese military aircraft flew through a new air defense zone that Beijing has declared over disputed islands, a Japanese government spokesman said Thursday. He said there was no response to the flights by the Chinese side. TOKYO — China sent fighter jets into its newly declared air defense zone Thursday on what state media called the country’s first air patrol since it declared control of the airspace. The announcement came hours after Japan and South Korea sent their own military planes into the airspace over the East China Sea, testing China’s resolve to enforce its declaration.
The announcement of the flights came after American B-52 heavy bombers flew through the same airspace in defiance of China, which last weekend announced it had the right to police a vast area over much of the East China Sea. Beijing later said that it had monitored the American bombers but had chosen not to take action. The announcement of the flights came just days after unarmed American B-52 bombers flew through the same zone in defiance of China. Beijing later said that it had monitored the American bombers but had chosen not to take action even though the planes did not tell the Chinese they were coming, as the government now demands.
On Thursday, the top Japanese government spokesman, Chief Cabinet Secretary Yoshihide Suga, said that Japan had followed suit by sending an unspecified number of patrol planes into the airspace, though he did not specify exactly when they had flown. The aircraft patrolled the airspace on routine reconnaissance flights without incident, and China did not scramble its fighter jets to intercept them, Mr. Suga said. On Thursday, the top Japanese government spokesman, Chief Cabinet Secretary Yoshihide Suga, said that the Chinese had not been notified of the Japanese flights, and reported that China did not scramble its fighter jets to intercept the planes.
Mr. Suga said that the aircraft had flown without informing China, defying Beijing’s demands that all traffic entering the so-called air defense identification zone file flight plans with China first. Japan and the United States have both refused to recognize the air zone, which covers the disputed islands, known as the Senkaku in Japan and Diaoyu in Chinese. The islands are administered by Japan, but also claimed by China. The South Korean government announced that it, too, had flown aircraft through the zone, on Wednesday, without alerting Beijing, a flight Chinese officials said they had monitored. The South Koreans said they had sent a surveillance aircraft.
The South Korean government also said that it had flown surveillance aircraft through the zone on Wednesday without alerting Beijing, a flight that Chinese officials said that they had monitored. Like Japan, South Korea claims sovereignty over territory in the zone, but enjoys warmer ties with Beijing than Japan does. Like Japan, South Korea claims sovereignty over territory in the zone, but enjoys warmer ties with Beijing than Japan does.
When China declared the air zone on Saturday, it said that it would police the airspace with military aircraft, a move that raised the specter of Japanese and Chinese fighter jets intercepting each other. The move drew immediate criticism from both Japan and from the United States, which is obligated by treaty to defend Japan from attack. Japan did not specify how many patrols had flown through the zone or when the flights were made.
China’s failure so far to enforce the zone appears to support the view of some Japanese officials, who say that the zone is just part of a broader, long-term strategy to try to pry the islands out of Japan’s grip. China has been doing this by sending coast guard ships around the islands, dispatching patrol aircraft and now claiming the airspace above — all steps, Japanese officials say, aimed at proving that China has just as much legal basis as Japan to claim that it administers the islands. Japan, the United States and South Korea have all refused to recognize the air zone, which includes the airspace above disputed islands, known as the Senkaku in Japan and Diaoyu in Chinese. The islands are administered by Japan, but also claimed by China.
When China declared the zone on Saturday, it said that it would police the airspace with military aircraft, a move that raised the specter of Japanese and Chinese fighter jets intercepting each other. The move drew immediate criticism from both Japan and the United States, which is obligated by treaty to defend Japan from attack.
China’s failure so far to enforce the zone appears to support the view of some Japanese officials that the declaration of control was part of a broader, long-term strategy to try to pry the islands out of Japan’s grip. China has been doing this by sending coast guard ships around the islands, dispatching patrol aircraft and now claiming the airspace above — all steps, Japanese officials say, aimed at proving that China has just as much legal basis as Japan to claim that it administers the islands.