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Scholars see different outcomes of China's ADIZ declaration

ROC Central News Agency

2013/11/27 23:17:13

Taipei, Nov. 27 (CNA) China's demarcation of a broad air defense identification zone (ADIZ) in the East China Sea has left scholars disagreeing over the significance and outcome of the move.

Chen I-hsin, a professor at Tamkang University in New Taipei, said Wednesday that despite the apparent dangers of the situation, tensions in the region would likely not rise.

China's Nov. 23 announcement of the ADIZ -- which covers the disputed Diaoyutai Islands -- and the U.S. training exercise that saw two B-52 bombers enter the area unannounced Tuesday followed by China's deployment of its only aircraft carrier may seem like provocative acts, Chen said.

But China's decision to send the Liaoning aircraft carrier through the Taiwan Strait, instead of waters around the disputed Diaoyutais north of Taiwan, on its way to the South China Sea means that the situation is not likely to get any more tense, he said.

Chen called for restraint among involved parties, recommending Taiwan again put forward the East China Sea Peace Initiative proposed by President Ma Ying-jeou to maintain regional peace and stability.

The principles outlined in the initiative include the shelving of territorial disputes, self-restraint and the peaceful resolution of differences.

On the other hand, Meng Xiangqing, a professor of the Strategic Research Institute at China's National Defense University, was more hawkish, labeling actions by the Japan and the U.S. as 'irrational' and 'provocative' and cautioning that they could spark a conflict over the Diaoyutai Islands.

Meng told the Hong Kong China News Agency that the U.S. bomber flight was a provocative test of China's bottom line of tolerance, noting that the U.S. and Japan have carried out regular maritime patrols in waters claimed by China in the East China Sea.

The ADIZ declaration has attracted significant attention in Washington and Tokyo, and Meng believes leaders in both capitals could take action to show their displeasure with Beijing's unilateral demarcation of the zone.

Calling China's ADIZ 'an established fact,' Meng said that the United States and Japan should strengthen communication and exchanges with China to avoid conflict.

The uninhabited Diaoyutai Island group, located some 100 nautical miles northeast of Taiwan, has been under the administrative control of Japan, which calls the chain the Senkaku Islands, since 1972. The islets are also claimed by Taiwan and China and are believed to hold an abundance of natural resources.

In response to the U.S. bombers' Tuesday flight, China's Ministry of National Defense said in a statement on its website that it had monitored the the entire flight and identified the craft 'in a timely way' as belonging to the United States.

(By Kelven Huang, Lawrence Chiu and Y.L. Kao)
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