Tension in Northeast Asia persisted Friday as China sent fighter jets and early warning aircraft to its newly declared air defense zone over the East China Sea which overlaps those of South Korea and Japan.

The move comes a day after Seoul and Tokyo flew their own warplanes into the air space in what appeared to be a show of force against Beijing’s increasing maritime assertions. Washington, which displayed opposition toward any alteration of the status quo, flew two B-52 strategic bombers over the area on Tuesday.

The Chinese mission was part of a regular patrol and a “defensive measure and in line with international common practices,” Col. Shen Jinke, a spokesperson for China’s air force, was quoted as saying by the state-run Xinhua News Agency.

The newly drawn Air Defense Identification Zone poses a fresh friction point in relations between Seoul and Beijing as it includes the space over South Korea’s submerged rock of Ieodo.

The announcement last weekend means that any foreign civilian and military aircraft flying over the area would have to identify themselves and report their entry to China in advance.

China on Thursday declined South Korea’s call for a change in the demarcation. The demand was delivered at a strategic dialogue in Seoul led by Vice Defense Minister Baek Seung-joo and Wang Guanzhong, deputy chief of general staff of the Chinese People’s Liberation Army.

The air zone also covers Tokyo-controlled islands in the East China Sea, called the Senkaku by Japan and Diaoyu by China.

The territorial feuds, coupled with historical rows, have frayed their bilateral ties, in particular since nationalist Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe took office early this year.

The declaration appears to be aimed at reining in Tokyo’s accelerating rightward drift including its pursuit of the right of collective self-defense, which is backed by a Washington facing budgetary and political constraints in executing its “rebalancing” toward Asia.

Beijing’s official media on Friday pinpointed Japan as a “prime target” of its aerial defense.

Seoul, for its part, is believed to be seeking to enlarge its own ADIZ, despite a risk of further escalation in tension in the region. Its zone drawn in 1951 during the Korean War does not include Ieodo, although it has been in effective control with a scientific research center set up in 2003.

The Foreign Ministry said the government would look into all options to maximize national interests to safeguard the rock. 


By Shin Hyon-hee
(heeshin@heraldcorp.com)