• Military Menu                       

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

• WMD
• Intelligence
• Homeland Security
• Space

China's air zone raises regional risk: analyst

ROC Central News Agency

2013/11/27 21:27:13

Taipei, Nov. 27 (CNA) China's demarcation of an air defense identification zone (ADIZ) that includes a disputed island chain in the East China Sea has increased the risk of possible miscalculation and escalation in the region, according to a U.K.- based analyst.

In an article published by the BBC, Alexander Neill, a senior fellow for Asia-Pacific security at the International Institute for Strategic Studies, said the move demonstrates Chinese President Xi Jinping's resolve to defend what China sees as its territorial integrity.

'It's the most striking act of military escalation since he became China's top leader and top military chief one year ago,' Neill wrote.

The ADIZ declaration confirms that the Diaoyutai Islands, called the Senkaku Islands by Japan and the Diaoyu Islands by China, are a 'core concern' for China and places the archipelago in the same category as the South China Sea and Taiwan.

According to Neill, the reason Xi might be prepared to overlook the late former top leader Deng Xiaoping's axiom 'hide your strength, bide your time' is because China is now an economic powerhouse with an increasingly potent military.

'China's best option to maintain escalation dominance in the absence of a permanent military presence in the Senkaku region is the establishment of the ADIZ,' Neill wrote.

Most significantly, the ADIZ is symbolic of China's persistent anger at the regular surveillance and intelligence-gathering sorties conducted by the U.S. military at sea and in the air along China's borders, he continued.

But Neill added that the proximity of the U.S. 7th Fleet -- based in Japan -- and the regular operations mounted by the U.S. military in the ADIZ area mean that the Pentagon will be extremely resistant to complying with air demarcation protocols demanded on China's terms, as will the Japanese military.

The U.S. response might be to up the tempo of its own military drills planned for the area, forcing China into a defensive response that will test both Xi's resolve and his chain of command, Neill's analysis said.

(By Lawrence Chiu and Lilian Wu)
ENDITEM/J