JAPAN/FILE: Tokyo says U.S. B52 bomber flights over China's newly declared "air defence identification zone" are nothing out of the ordinary and demands China withdraw its claims over the zone immediately

Record ID: 467596

  • Title: JAPAN/FILE: Tokyo says U.S. B52 bomber flights over China's newly declared "air defence identification zone" are nothing out of the ordinary and demands China withdraw its claims over the zone immediately
  • Date: 27th November 2013
  • Summary: TOKYO, JAPAN (FILE OCTOBER 2013) (REUTERS) EXTERIOR OF THE JAPANESE DEFENCE MINISTRY SIGN READING (Japanese): "DEFENCE MINISTRY"
  • Embargoed: 12th December 2013 12:00
  • Keywords:
  • Location: Usa, Japan
  • City:
  • Country: USA
  • Topics: General
  • Reuters ID: LVA53N5NVD1BJGMNKAB57DFK87M6
  • Story Text: Japan on Wednesday (November 27) defended the United State's decision to send two unarmed U.S. B-52 bombers on a training mission over disputed islands in the East China Sea without informing Beijing and defying China's declaration of a new airspace defense zone.
    "This is basically about U.S. planes flying where they have always flown before so this is no different than usual," Japanese Defence Minister Itsunori Onodera told reporters in Tokyo.
    The move, which raised the stakes in a territorial standoff, did not prompt a response from China, the Pentagon said, and the White House urged Beijing to resolve its dispute with Japan over the islands diplomatically, without resorting to "threats or inflammatory language".
    Japan called on China to retract its claims immediately.
    "The publication of China's Air Defence Identification Zone was completely unilateral and the backlash from the international community, including South Korea and Taiwan has been strong. We would like to see this zone retracted as soon as possible as we can not accept it in any way. And I believe the United States is working from the same standpoint," Onodera added.
    China published coordinates for an East China Sea Air Defence Identification Zone over the weekend and warned it would take "defensive emergency measures" against aircraft that failed to identify themselves properly in the airspace.
    Tokyo said Japan's Foreign Minister Fumio Kishida had received reassurances from the United States Secretary of State John Kerry that Washington was supportive of Japan's stance on this issue.
    "We continue to work closely with the United States on the issue of China's Air Defence Identification Zone in the East China Sea. On November 26, our two foreign ministers held a phone conversation in which Kerry expressed his concern at the extremely dangerous unilateral decision by China and expressed his support of the Japanese position," the Japanese deputy Chief Cabinet secretary told reporters at a regular news conference.
    The zone, about two thirds the size of Britain, covers the skies over islands at the heart of a territorial dispute that China has with close U.S. ally Japan.
    The B-52 bombers carried out the flight, part of a long-planned exercise, on Monday, a U.S. military official said.
    The lumbering bombers appeared to send a message that the United States was not trying to hide its intentions and showed that China, so far at least, was unable or unwilling to defend the zone.
    The B-52s, part of the Air Force fleet for more than half a century, are relatively slow compared with today's fighter jets and far easier to spot than stealth aircraft.
    The dispute has flared before a trip to the region by Vice-President Joe Biden, who is scheduled to travel to Japan early next week and also has stops in China and South Korea.
    The Pentagon said the B-52 training exercise "involved two aircraft flying from Guam and returning to Guam", referring to the U.S. South Pacific island with large military U.S. bases.
    Annual U.S.-Japan naval exercises are also taking place in waters off the Japanese islands of Okinawa and Kyushu, to the east of China's new zone. The drills, which involve the USS George Washington aircraft carrier, were planned before China's announcement of the zone.
    China claims almost the entire South China Sea, conflicting with claims from Taiwan, Malaysia, Brunei, the Philippines and Vietnam.
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