• Military Menu                       

• Introduction
• Systems
• Facilities
• Agencies
• Industry
• Operations
• Countries
• Hot Documents
• News
• Reports
• Policy
• Budget
• Congress
• Links

• WMD
• Intelligence
• Homeland Security
• Space

Conflict over Diaoyutais more likely with China's ADIZ: expert

ROC Central News Agency

2013/11/26 12:11:05

Hong Kong, Nov. 25 (CNA) China's demarcation of an air defense identification zone (ADIZ) in the East China Sea has increased the chances of a conflict between China and Japan or even the United States over the disputed Diaoyutai Islands, a Hong Kong expert said Monday.

China claimed the right on Nov. 23 to identify, monitor and possibly take military action against aircraft that entered its newly demarcated ADIZ that now covers the Diaoyutais.

'The inclusion of the disputed island chain into its new ADIZ could be an ominous sign that Beijing is prepared to butt heads with Japan and the U.S. on the issue,' said Zheng Hailin, director of the Hong Kong Research Center of Asia-Pacific Studies.

Zheng, an expert on the Diaoyutais' history and related legal issues, said China's move marked a shift from its previous strategy of dealing with the island dispute through political means rather than legal action.

'China had not declared an ADIZ over the Diaoyutais until now, even though Japan had done so in line with its domestic law long ago,' Zheng said.

The uninhabited island group, located some 100 nautical miles northeast of Taiwan, has been under Japan's administrative control since 1972, but is also claimed by Taiwan and China.

Shortly after the announcement of the ADIZ demarcation over the weekend, China's air force said it had sent its first planes, including jet fighters, to enforce the rules.

'The move accentuated China's claim to the island chain and its determination to uphold its ADIZ demarcation,' Zheng noted.

If Japan and the United States ignore China's ADIZ demarcation, Zheng said chances could be high that a conflict erupts between China and Japan or even the U.S. over the Diaoyutai Islands, known as the Senkaku Islands in Japan and Diaoyu Islands in China.

China said its East China Sea ADIZ was demarcated based on its national defense law, civil aviation law and basic flight regulations, but Zheng contended that the move was also consistent with international law because China has identified the Diaoyutais as part of its territory.

He said both the classic work Oppenheim's International Law and the United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea recognize each country's jurisdiction over its territorial sea, airspace, seabed and continental shelves.

The longstanding China-Japan dispute over the Diaoyutais came to a head last autumn after Japan nationalized three of the Diaoyutai islets to solidify its claim over the small island chain.

China responded by launching maritime and aerial incursions into the region, drawing similar moves by the Japanese military. The subsequent tensions have fueled concerns that a conflict could break out in the area.

(By Stanley Cheung and Sofia Wu)
enditem/ls