Standing side by side in Tokyo with Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe, Mr Biden said the US is “deeply concerned” about China’s attempt to unilaterally change the status quo in the East China Sea.
Mr Biden said the US is coordinating closely with allies Japan, South Korea and others, adding that the US has an interest in lowering tensions in the region.
“I will be raising these issues with great specificity when I meet with Chinese leadership the day after tomorrow,” Mr Biden said.
Mr Biden’s remarks came as Japan is pressing the US to more actively take Japan’s side in an escalating dispute over China’s new air defence zone above a set of contested islands in the East China Sea.
The US and Japan have refused to recognise China’s air defence zone above tiny islands that China and Japan both claim. The US and its allies are concerned China’s move is part of a broader strategy to assert increasing authority in the region.
“The prospect for miscalculation and mistake is too high,” Mr Biden said of the air defence zone.
Mr Abe, who met with Mr Biden at the prime minister’s residence today, said he and Mr Biden confirmed that neither country would tolerate the attempt to change the status quo by force. He invoked Japan’s decades-long alliance with the US in pledging the two would work closely to deal with the situation.
At the same time, Mr Abe appeared to try to smooth over a minor rift that emerged between the US and Japan as Mr Biden headed to the region over whether commercial airlines should comply with China’s demand that they file flight plans before flying through the zone. Japanese leaders were concerned after word came that the US was advising American carriers, in line with existing protocol, to comply with such requests from foreign governments.
“We agreed we will not condone any action that could threaten safety of civilian aircraft,” Mr Abe said.
Reluctant to cede any ground, Tokyo has been urging Japanese commercial flights not to notify China before flying through the zone. Word that the US had advised American commercial carriers to comply rankled leaders in Tokyo, who are hoping a united front with the US will increase pressure on Beijing to reverse course.
But senior Obama administration officials said today that the US never told American commercial carriers to comply specifically with China’s demands. Rather, the Federal Aviation Administration merely reaffirmed existing policy that pilots should comply with such instructions anywhere in the world, said the officials, who were not authorised to comment by name and demanded anonymity............http://www.todayonline.com/world/asia/china-air-zone-raises-risk-accidents-biden?singlepage=true
3/12/13
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Ιαπωνία: Επίσκεψη από τον αμερικανό αντιπρόεδρο. -Εν μέσω έντασης για την κινέζικη ζώνη αεράμυνας
South Korea to announce expansion of its air defense zone in the coming days ...
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Ostasien-Reise: Biden besorgt über chinesische Luftverteidigungszone....
ReplyDeleteEs ist eine deutliche Kritik an der Regierung in Peking: US-Vizepräsident Joe Biden wirft der Volksrepublik China vor, die Verhältnisse im Ostchinesischen Meer eigenmächtig zu ändern. Während seines Japan-Besuchs zeigte er sich "tief besorgt".
Tokio - Zum Start einer Reise durch Ostasien hat US-Vizepräsident Joe Biden China wegen der Verkündung einer "Luftverteidigungszone" kritisiert. "Wir, die Vereinigten Staaten, sind zutiefst besorgt über die Versuche, einseitig den Status quo im Ostchinesischen Meer zu ändern", sagte er am Dienstag. Bei einer Pressekonferenz mit Japans Regierungschef Shinzo Abe sicherte Biden Tokio die Unterstützung Washingtons zu, Peking rief er zu Gesprächen auf.................http://www.spiegel.de/politik/ausland/us-vize-biden-besorgt-ueber-chinas-luftverteidigungszone-a-936996.html
3/12/13
Defense Ministry: China’s ADIZ not an expansion of airspace...
ReplyDeleteChina’s Defense Ministry has reaffirmed that the country’s newly announced Air Defense Identification Zone is NOT an expansion of China’s airspace.
Defense Ministry spokesperson Geng Yansheng clarified at a press conference, that the ADIZ is not a "no-fly" zone, but has been established as a precaution to help China better defend national security. He said the zone is not aimed at any specific country or target. Geng reiterated that international airliners have been operating safely and normally since the establishment of the zone.
Geng added that Japan established its air defense identification zone over four decades back and had in that period expanded it twice. He reiterated that Japan has no right to comment on China’s rightful setting up of its Air Defense Identification Zone.
http://english.cntv.cn/program/newsupdate/20131203/104739.shtml
3/12/13
Foreign experts discuss tensions over China's ADIZ....
ReplyDeleteUS Vice President Joe Biden is set to arrive in China on Wednesday, as part of his three-nation East Asia tour. The trip comes amid rising tensions surrounding China’s new Air Defense Identification Zone.
On Tuesday, leading foreign affairs experts gathered in Beijing to discuss regional security, and in particular the roles of China and the US.
The latest wave of tensions was not on the agenda, when Joe Biden’s visit was scheduled.
China recently established an air defense identification zone, covering the disputed Diaoyu Islands... but the United States and Japan have since defied the zone by sending warplanes.
China responded by scrambling fighter jets on patrol. This has prompted warnings of a further escalation.
"Two nos. No conflict, and no confrontation. Both sides will benefit greatly from peace and cooperation, or they will suffer seriously from confrontation and conflicts," said Cai Wei, Dept. of North America & Oceanian Affairs, MFA.
China’s leading foreign experts, taking part in an international conference addressing security in the Asia-Pacific, have been speaking of a shift in major power relations. The core of this idea is to avoid conflict between rising and developed powers, like many times in history.
This change in relations between China and the US, came following a meeting of the two presidents in June. Some believe the key to this new relationship is trust.
"If we want to achieve a new type of relationship, we need to model our behavior in the real world, not say one thing and do something else all together. While China has a perfect right to declare an air defense identification zone, the way China went about it very much smells like the 19th century, not the 21st century," said Michael Schiffer, senior advisor of US Senate Foreign Relations Committee.
20 countries have already set up their own air defense identification zones, including the United States and Japan. China’s Foreign Ministry has criticized the US and Japan of double standards.
China’s vice foreign minister, also present at the conference, called for economic integration instead of military alliances, to maintain Asia-Pacific security..........http://english.cntv.cn/program/asiatoday/20131203/105685.shtml
3/12/13