China scrambles jets after Japanese fighters and U.S. spy planes enter disputed air defence zone over East China Sea

Two fighters monitored two U.S. planes and 10 Japanese aircraft, China says



The country announced unilateral air-defence identification zone last week

It overlaps with a similar zone already claimed by Japan



China has sent two fighter jets to investigate US and Japanese military planes’ entry into a disputed area of the East China Sea.



Tensions in the volatile region have mounted since the Chinese Air Force stated that it ‘escorted’ foreign warplanes out of its newly-declared air defence identification zone (ADIZ).



The zone covers islands which are the subject of a bitter territorial dispute with Japan – sparking fears that it could lead to an unplanned military incident.



Two Japanese F-15 fighter jets: China scrambled jets today in response to U.S. spy planes and Japanese aircraft - including F-15 fighters - entering its new air defence zone over the East China Sea Last week Beijing declared that all aircraft crossing through airspace must file flight plans and identify themselves or face unspecified ‘defensive emergency measures’. But the US, Japan and South Korea have all defied the ruling over the past few days. In an intensification of the spat, China yesterday launched fighter jets into the area at the same time as foreign military flights.

Chinese Air Force spokesman Colonel Shen Jinke said warplanes had been scrambled to monitor two US surveillance aircraft and ten Japanese planes, including an F-15 fighter jet, crossing through the ADIZ.

He was reported by state media as saying that the jets had tracked and identified the planes.

Ministers in Tokyo declined to give details of the flights but said the Japanese Air Force was on routine operations and had encountered no ‘abnormal’ incidents. China announced the creation of the zone last Saturday.



Overlapping claims: This map shows the respective air defence and economic zones claimed by China and Japan and with the islands in the East China Sea that the two countries have been disputing highlighted It covers a vast area of the East China Sea, including a region where gas has been discovered.

The row centres on airspace over three uninhabited outcrops called the Senkaku Islands by Japan and Diaoyu by China.

Taiwan also has a claim to the islands – bought by Japan from private sellers in 2012, much to the anger of China – and South Korea maintains an interest in a submerged rock in the zone known as Ieodo. The US called the establishment of the ADIZ a ‘destabilising attempt to alter the status quo in the region’.

Baroness Ashton, the EU foreign policy envoy, expressed concern about the diplomatic flare-up.

She said: ‘This development heightens the risk of escalation and contributes to raising tensions in the region. The EU calls on all sides to exercise caution and restraint.’

