The Obama administration has urged US commercial aircraft to comply with China’s new controversial air defence zone, in a move that is likely to anger Tokyo and Seoul, as tensions mount over the contested Senkaku Islands in the East China Sea.
On Friday in Washington, the State department said it “generally expects” that US commercial aircraft would comply with the requirements attached to the Chinese “air defence identification zone”. But it said it remains “deeply concerned” about China’s declaration of the zone, adding its position on US carriers “does not indicate US government acceptance of China’s requirements for operating in the newly declared ADIZ”.
The statement came just hours after China revealed that it had deployed fighter jets on Friday to respond to Japanese fighters and surveillance aircraft that entered the Chinese ADIZ. Chinese state media said the Chinese air force deployed Su-30 and J-11 fighters after at least 10 Japanese aircraft that included F-15 fighters, E-767 Awacs (airborne early warning and control) aircraft and P-3 surveillance aircraft entered the zone. Xinhua said the jets were also responding to US surveillance aeroplanes without making clear whether the American aircraft had also entered the ADIZ.