Japan's government told its domestic airlines to stop reporting flight plans of aircraft traveling through a new air-defense zone set up by China that Prime Minister Shinzo Abe rejects.
Japan can't accept China's "false" impositions on its airlines and the government told carriers to stop providing information to the Chinese, Chief Cabinet Secretary Yoshihide Suga said in Tokyo Tuesday. ANA Holdings began giving information on Nov. 24 and Japan Airlines a day before.
"Airlines have a responsibility for the safety of passengers and the crew," said Daniel Pinkston, a senior analyst with the International Crisis Group in Seoul. "I would imagine if you ask those airlines they certainly discussed it and reviewed it and consulted with their legal counselors and decided the prudent thing to do was to report to the Chinese authorities."
China's move is one of the most serious escalations in tensions between the two countries since September 2012 when Japan bought three disputed islands in the East China Sea, setting off protests across China. The islands lie within the new air defense zone and China has threatened "defensive emergency measures" against unidentified aircraft it encounters there. The disputed islands, known as Diaoyu in Chinese and Senkaku in Japanese, lie inside the new air defense zone. Both nations claim sovereignty over the area, whose waters are rich in oil, natural gas and fish.
China's action may escalate the situation and lead to unforeseen events, Japan's Prime Minister Shinzo Abe told a parliamentary committee Monday, adding that he was very concerned. "We urge China to revoke this measure, which is in no way binding on Japan."
Even if commercial flights through the zone comply with the Chinese demands, the establishment of the perimeter still raises the threat of incidents, such as the shooting down of a Korean Air Lines Co. jumbo jet in 1983 when it strayed into the airspace of the former Soviet Union, said Ralph Cossa, president of the Hawaii-based Pacific Forum CSIS.
Bloomberg news
