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US operations
unchanged by Chinaˇ¦s new air zone
AFP, BEIJING
US military chiefs have insisted they will not change their operations despite
China scrambling fighter jets to monitor US and Japanese aircraft in Beijingˇ¦s
newly declared air defense zone.
However, the US Department of State said US commercial airlines should observe
Chinaˇ¦s demand to be given notice of aircraft entering the zone, while stating
that compliance ˇ§does not indicate US government acceptance of Chinaˇ¦s
requirements.ˇ¨
China flew warplanes into its air defense identification zone (ADIZ) on Friday,
Chinese state media said, nearly a week after it announced the zone, which
covers islands at the center of a dispute between Beijing and Tokyo, raising
regional tensions.
A Xinhua report indicated that Japan and the US are continuing to disregard
Chinaˇ¦s demands that aircraft submit flight plans when traversing the area in
the East China Sea or face unspecified ˇ§defensive emergency measures.ˇ¨
ˇ§We have flights routinely transiting international airspace throughout the
Pacific, including the area China is including in their ADIZ,ˇ¨ Pentagon
spokesman Colonel Steve Warren said on Friday. ˇ§These flights are consistent
with long-standing and well-known US freedom of navigation policies that are
applied in many areas of operation around the world. I can confirm that the US
has and will continue to operate in the area as normal.ˇ¨
Compliance by commercial flights ˇ§does not indicate US government acceptance of
Chinaˇ¦s requirements for operating in the newly declared ADIZ,ˇ¨ the State
Department said in a statement.
Japanese airlines, under pressure from Tokyo, stopped following Chinaˇ¦s new
rules on Wednesday, after initially complying.
In its evening edition yesterday, the Yomiuri Shimbun newspaper said Japanˇ¦s two
biggest airlines were unlikely to change their stance even after the US
announcement.
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