Japan defense chief sees tensions rising if China puts up another ADIZ over West Philippine Sea

From InterAksyon (Dec 7): Japan defense chief sees tensions rising if China puts up another ADIZ over West Philippine Sea



Japanese Defense Minister Onodera is welcomed by Secretary Voltaire Gazmin at the Department of National Defense in Quezon City on Saturday. KRISKEN JONES, INTERAKSYON.COM

Tensions will climb higher in the West Philippine Sea should China decide to put up an air defense identification zone (ADIZ) there, Japanese Defense Minister Itsunori Onodera said Saturday.

The visiting Japanese officials made this statement during a press briefing after his visit with Department of National Defense Secretary Voltaire Gazmin at DND headquarters in Camp Aguinaldo, Quezon City.

"China's unilateral action to change the status quo by force or coercive action will bring back tension in this region," Onodera stressed, in the wake of rising tensions in the East China Sea, over which China declared an ADIZ, and demanded that all countries with aircraft passing through the zone submit flight plans else face "defensive measures."

Onodera said that this declaration violates the spirit of the international treaty of ICAO (International Civil Aviation Organization).

The Japanese defense chief is on a two-day visit to the Philippines.

He added that he has received reports that China is considering establishing a new ADIZ in the West Philippine Sea.

China and Japan have a serious maritime dispute over a cluster of islands Japan calls Senkakus but which China claims and calls Diaoyus.

The disputed territories have been at the center of the two countries' territorial dispute for decades, but are presently under Japan's administrative control.

China and the Philippines have a similar dispute in the West Philippine Sea, where the Spratly Islands are located.

Last month, the Chinese government put up an ADIZ over the East China Sea, covering the group of islets claimed by both China and Japan. Onodera said Japan and the US have been "firmly and calmly" continuing patrols and surveillance in the East China Sea despite China's ADIZ.

http://www.interaksyon.com/article/76391/japan-defense-chief-sees-tensions-rising-if-china-puts-up-another-adiz-over-west-philippine-sea