FT: Official raises prospect of South China Sea air defense zone

Chinese fishing boats sail in the South China Sea

China has mooted the possibility of controlling the airspace over the disputed South China Sea, as it ratchets up rhetoric in response to a US over flight of an island claimed by China earlier this month, the Financial Times reported yesterday.
According to an article by Charles Clover in Beijing, a senior foreign ministry official spoke yesterday about the possibility of implementing an Air Defense Identification Zone over the sea, a move that would be widely regarded as an effort to stamp its sovereignty over a series of islands it claims. An ADIZ requires all aircraft flying through it to identify themselves to the controlling government.
“China has the right to establish ADIZs,” said Ouyang Yujing, director of boundaries and oceanic affairs for the foreign ministry, in an interview published in a Chinese newspaper.
“Whether or not China will establish a South China Sea ADIZ will depend on factors such as whether China’s air safety is under threat, and the seriousness of the threat,” he said. However, he added, the area remained stable for the time being.
The FT further detailed that while it’s not the first time a Chinese official has broached the topic of an ADIZ, experts say it was significant that it has come at a time of heightened tensions this month following an over flight of China-claimed islands by a US P-8 spy plane carrying a camera crew from CNN.
The US is also considering flying surveillance missions even closer to the islands, as well as sailing warships within a few miles of them, as part of a new, more robust US military posture in the area.
Rory Medcalf, head of the National Security College at the Australian National University, told the newspaper that the re-emergence of the prospect of a new ADIZ was a calculated signal from Beijing.
“It is significant for a senior Chinese official to not categorically deny that the ADIZ is an option [for the South China Sea],” he said, “and it’s significant for a Chinese official to link this to the actions of other states. In effect they are laying the diplomatic groundwork for such a move if China is not happy with the way the tensions play out.”
A South China Sea ADIZ would be its second over a disputed maritime area. In November 2013, China stunned its neighbors when it announced an ADIZ over the East China Sea covering islands that are also claimed by Japan.
Dozens of islands — most no more than remote coral atolls — dot the South China Sea and are claimed by China, Vietnam, the Philippines and other neighboring states. China has brought in advanced dredging equipment to reclaim land and has nearly built an airstrip on one island known internationally as Fiery Cross Reef.
Gary Li, an independent expert on international security matters in Beijing, told the FT that the announcement of a possible ADIZ appeared to be a “tit for tat” in response to the US over flight this month.
“This is probably them saying ‘if you’re going to carry on doing that, then we’re going to push forward this plan — now we might actually do it’,” the paper quoted him as saying.
Experts link the airstrip on Fiery Cross to eventual ambitions to set up an ADIZ. “I don’t see them going ahead with this until they can enforce it, and the only way they could enforce it is with this runway,” said Mr Li, although he said basing interceptors would be an “extremely provocative step”.
When it announced the East China Sea ADIZ, China was unable to enforce it days later when the US flew two B-52 bombers through the zone.

filipino, vietnamese troops play games on spratly island

Filipino and Vietnamese troops played football and tug-of-war yesterday to foster camaraderie at a Philippine-held island in the South China Sea, where territorial rifts have escalated following China’s island-building activities. Navy spokesman Col. Edgard Arevalo said officials from both navies spoke at a ceremony and the two sides also exchanged “symbolic handshakes.” The activity on Northeast Cay island was followed by volleyball, football, tug-o-war, sack race and centipede race. Results of the games were not immediately known. Arevalo said yesterday’s games were to reciprocate a similar event in June last year at the Vietnamese-occupied Southwest Cay about 4 kilometers from Northeast Cay, which the Philippines calls Parola. He said the activity was conducted independent of other countries and “it does not intend to pick on China.” China last year criticized the games as “clumsy farce” and reiterated Beijing’s “irrefutable sovereignty” over the islands in the South China Sea.