A password will be e-mailed to you.
Hide from Public

Uncategorized

What’s the Deal with China’s New Air Defense Identification Zone?

November 23, 2013

Early on Saturday, the People’s Republic of China announced the establishment of an Air Defense Identification Zone over much of the East China Sea and has already conducted its first air patrol of the zone with two large.  Early warning aircraft and fighters provided support and cover.

What does this mean?

According to a spokesman for the PLA, the zone “is an area of air space established by a coastal state beyond its territorial airspace to timely identify, monitor, control and react to aircraft entering this zone with potential air threats. It allows early-warning time and provides air security.” It has issued a set of rules for aircraft to follow, including identification of themselves and their flight path.  Ominously, the PRC states, “China’s armed forces will adopt defensive emergency measures to respond to aircraft that do not cooperate in the identification or refuse to follow the instructions.”

China claims the zone “is not directed against any specific country or target,” but this is clearly not the case.  The zone covers territory claimed by both Japan and China – the Senkaku Islands – and there have been a series of incidents and disputes related to this territory.  China claims to be “following international practice” but it is not clear what practice they are referring to. They claim it is “a necessary measure taken by China in exercising its self-defense right. It is not directed against any specific country or target. It does not affect the freedom of over-flight in the related airspace.”

Where is the zone? 

According to China, the 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.”  China’s Defense Ministry has released this map.

China Air Defense Zone

Is there precedence for this?

China thinks so. They state:

Since the 1950s, more than 20 countries including some major countries and China’s neighboring countries have successively established Air Defense Identification Zones. Chinese government’s relevant behavior is in line with the UN Charter and other international laws and customs. China’s domestic laws and regulations such as the Law of the PRC on National Defense, the Law of PRC on Civil Aviation and Basic Rules on Flight have also clearly stipulated on the maintenance of territorial land and air security and flight order.

The United States and Canada have their own Air Defense Identification Zone (map here).  A more relevant example might be Japan’s own Air Defense Identification Zone, which looks as if it overlaps with China’s, although I’m unable to locate a reliable map of it.

Key Questions (none of which I know the answer to): 

  1. Is China acting within international norms?
  2. How will the United States and Japan react?
  3. How will other states involved in territorial disputes with China react? Will they rally around Japan?  South Korea’s response, in particular, will be interesting as they are involved in their own acrimonious territorial dispute with Japan.
  4. Will the United States finally get serious about the “re-balance” to Asia?
  5. Is China just seeing how far it can go?
  6. If the Japanese and Chinese zones overlap, doesn’t this increase the likelihood of an ugly confrontation?

I’m very interested in hearing from our readers in the comments section as the crisis develops. I’m sure we’ll be hearing from WOTR’s military and Asia specialists as this progresses.

 

Ryan Evans is the assistant director of the Center for the National Interest and the editor-in-chief of War on the Rocks. 

Leave a Reply

You must be logged in to post a comment.

13 thoughts on “What’s the Deal with China’s New Air Defense Identification Zone?”

  1. Regarding number one, according to Kyodo (Japanese newspaper) News “Such zones are set up by countries based on domestic law. There are no international rules concerning their establishment. So it seems at least its not acting inconsistently with intl law.

    5) I think China is trying to create new realities on the ground. What country is administrating a territory means a lot in international law in settling territorial disputes.

  2. The only way to defeat a bully is to stand up to them. Japan should set up regular air sovereignty patrols in its previously declared ADIZ to show that they will not be intimidated. The USN should operate as they normally do in the area, but unescorted EP-3s should remain outside the newly declared Chinese ADIZ.

  4. To answer your questions:

    1: China has long lacked a formal ADIZ, and that is actually quite strange. So its current ADIZ (which is actually quite small compared to US or Japanese comparison) is well within international norms. That said, the overlap with the Japanese ADIZ is a little less than normal, and encompassing the disputed islands is obviously a pretext for asserting PRC sovereignty over those islands while eroding Japanese claims.
    2: Japan has protested, Kerry and Hagel have made negative statements. Rather ironic given both Japan and the US have some of the largest ADIZ in the world.
    3: Who knows.
    4: Will they? Is this ADIZ a particular challenge to the US? The US have had their own ADIZ for years and there is international legal precedent for ADIZ, if the US reacts adversely to what is ultimately a legal act, wouldn’t that paint the US in a rather bad if not hypocritical light?
    5: It’s quite a calculated move. JSDF claimed they will shoot down “foreign drones” that enter its airspace, namely diaoyu/senkaku. By including disputed airspace in its ADIZ, China has effectively called Japan’s bluff, while using a mirror of Japan’s own ADIZ policy against it. I don’t think anyone expects Japan to shoot PLAAF fighters over the islands, so this is quite a big win for China’s claim over the territory.
    6: Most definitely. We can see some Turkish-Greece style mock “dogfights” in the overlap. But both sides will be careful to not fire the first shot.

  5. Rarely does China do anything as part of an international norm. Given US involvement in Philippine disaster relief and the projection of the ADIZ into the S.China sea, seems a means to posture / threaten under the guise of internationally acceptable defensive measures. The US ADIZ comparably is relatively uniform with established procedures to operate civilian aircraft through the zone. See FAA pubs and DOD FLIP for details on Defense VFR flight plans.

  6. Tokyo is hypocritical and impudent in its complaint with Beijing, calling the establishment of the zone “totally unacceptable.” It is widely known that Japan has set up air defense identification zones in every direction, 50 kilometers to Russia in the north and 130 kilometers to China’s mainland in the east. China has every fair and legitimate reason to establish its own air defense zone.

  7. I appreciate china did the action. Japan is thief and aggressor, at least for Japanese’s potentate.

    OK, you can say china provocateur? Then, how about Korea? How about Russia? All of them provocateurs? So interesting! American government need to wake up, Japan never admit and introspection their atrocity during the Second World War. Japan never care the feeling of the other Asian countries and has been pay respects to Yasukuni Shrine that “consecrating” the war criminal of Second World War. And these lunacy has been acting by Janpanese’s politiians year by year. They really realize their evil during Second World War? Their politician said ‘yes’! Do you believe? Impossible!

    I have see anyone who did wrong and consecrate its wrong after he said: I’m wrong,please forgive me! It’s interesting!

    According to history, I personally think Japan has been filch the land of its neighbouring States.

  8. China of course has a right to establish its own ADIZ that is not in dispute. China is attempting to change the status quo as Hagel stated. China is succeeding so far because very few people seem to get what this means. China wants to control their region and so they need to push the US out for them to succeed. This is why they are gearing up for a fight with the US and deliberately picking fights with US allies. If you believe this is about a few rocks in the seas or what Japan did 100 yrs. ago I have some Ocean front property in Arizona I will give you a great deal on. LOL.

  9. Re #1, Secretary of State Kerry says No. “The United States does not apply its ADIZ procedures to foreign aircraft not intending to enter U.S. national airspace. We urge China not to implement its threat to take action against aircraft that do not identify themselves or obey orders from Beijing” (PRN: 2013/1469). Japan behaves like the U.S. in its ADIZ. China is trying to erode the distinction between ADIZ and territorial airspace, just like with EEZ vs. territorial waters and territorial waters vs. internal waters.

  10. Who are the in country/PLA actors on this new policy. Is this new direction a shift in policy at the macro level for the nation or is this ruffling of the feathers for some new General or Chief Of Staff within the Military?

    I’m not informed on the structure of their military and the levels of compartmentalization between the Military and the Heads of State.

  11. mike denny
    *Rarely does China do anything as part of an international norm* [sic]

    ever heard of *supreme international crime* ? [1]
    500 violatons in a mere 200 yrs of existence yet u r yapping about china’s ommission of *international norm* ?

    n who told u adiz is *against international norm* ? [3]

    [1]
    http://www.countercurrents.org/kantar300408.htm
    [2]
    http://www.4thmedia.org/2012/09/18/the-us-led-apocalypse-the-americas-apocalyptic-eternal-war/
    [3]
    http://www.atimes.com/atimes/China/CHIN-01-251113.html