China's air defense zone justified
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E-mail China.org.cn, December 6, 2013
China established its first air defense identification zone over the East China Sea on Nov. 23, 2013. It was in accordance with Chinese law and international practices to safeguard its sovereignty, the Ministry of National Defense announced on the same day.
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East China Sea Air Defense Identification Zone [Xinhuanet.com] |
The East China Sea Air Defense Identification Zone includes the airspace within the area enclosed by China's outer limit of the territorial sea and the following six points: 33º11'N (North Latitude) and 121º47'E (East Longitude), 33º11'N and 125º00'E, 31º00'N and 128º20'E, 25º38'N and 125º00'E, 24º45'N and 123º00'E, 26º44'N and 120º58'E.
Air Defense Identification Zone (ADIZ) is a zone that can extend in some cases up to 300 miles beyond the territorial sea. It is established by a maritime nation to guard against potential air threats. This airspace, demarcated outside the territorial airspace, allows a country to identify, monitor, control and dispose of entering aircraft. It sets aside time for early warning and helps defend the country's airspace.
The Chinese government has followed common international practices in the establishment of the zone, with aims of protecting its state sovereignty and territorial and airspace security, and maintaining flying orders. It is a necessary measure in China's exercise of self-defense rights. It has no particular target and will not affect the freedom of flight in relevant airspace.
The establishment of the East China Sea Air Defense Identification Zone has a sound legal basis and accords with common international practices.
The first ADIZ was established by the U.S. in 1950, when it created a joint North American ADIZ with Canada, citing the legal right of any nation to establish reasonable conditions of entry into its territory.
More than 20 countries, including the U.S., Canada, France, Germany, the United Kingdom, Australia, South Korea and Japan, have demarcated Air Defense Identification Zones in high seas or international waters. Japan, South Korea and China's Taiwan region have their ADIZs respectively in the East China Sea.
China's measures conform to the Charter of the United Nations and international laws and practices. China's domestic laws and regulations, including the Law on National Defense, the Law on Civil Aviation and the Basic Rules on Flight, have clear stipulations on protecting territorial and airspace security and maintaining flying orders.
The People's Liberation Army (PLA) Air Force conducted its first air patrol after the establishment of the East China Sea Air Defense Identification Zone. Reconnaissance and early-warning aircraft and warplanes were deployed.
Military expert Meng Xiangqing said that a country has the right to decide on its own whether or how to set up such zones, without getting permission from other countries, if the move does not violate international laws, breach other countries' territorial sovereignty or affect the freedom of flight.
Military expert Yin Zhuo said that China's establishment of the zone is based on the need to tackle a more complex security environment, and the move is a justified act to maintain the sovereignty and security of the country's territory and airspace.
"Setting up an ADIZ helps to prevent risks, a basic rule to clarify one's own margin of interest," said military expert Luo Yuan. "The zone tells others which areas allow free access and which require prior approval. It is a reminder to rash intruders."
"This is why setting up an ADIZ is not to intensify conflicts but to simplify difficult problems and clarify a vague boundary, since it will reduce the possibility of misjudgment and accidental injury," Luo added. "It is a buffer to prevent accidents from happening."
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