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Now China is acting up

From gCaptain:

Regional Stability at Stake as China Makes Bold New Claim Over East China Sea

China on Saturday bolstered its claim to islands that Japan says it owns, warning that it would take �defensive emergency measures� against aircraft that failed to identify themselves properly in airspace over them.

Ties between the Asian powers have been strained for months by the dispute over the islands in the East China Sea, called the Diaoyu by China and the Senkaku by Japan, which are believed to be surrounded by energy-rich seabed.

China�s government-run Xinhua news agency published a map and coordinates for the newly established �East China Sea Air Defense Identification Zone�, which covers most of that sea including the disputed islands.

It also released Defense Ministry identification rules for aircraft in the area.

�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,� Xinhua said.

Xinhua said the rules came into force on Saturday and the Chinese air force conducted its first patrol over the zone. The patrol included early warning aircraft and fighters, it said.

Japan scrambled fighter jets on Saturday afternoon against two Chinese reconnaissance planes over the East China Sea, the Japanese Defense Ministry said.

A ministry spokesman declined to comment on whether there was any connection between the Chinese patrol activity and the two reconnaissance planes. He said one of the aircraft, a TU-154, came as close as 40 km (25 miles) to what Japan considers its airspace above the disputed islands.

Just wonderful... Posted by DaveH at November 24, 2013 3:56 PM