Two American and ten Japanese planes, all military-related according to China, were on overflights. Don't know what the Chinese jets were scrambled to do. "First time" though, so further escalation. Yet:
Qin Gang, [Foreign Ministry spokesman] said, “The Air Defense Identification Zone does not equal territorial airspace, and is not an expansion of a country’s territorial airspace. Aircraft of all countries, including commercial aircraft, carrying out normal flight according to international law will not be affected.”
Qin Gang, [Foreign Ministry spokesman] said, “The Air Defense Identification Zone does not equal territorial airspace, and is not an expansion of a country’s territorial airspace. Aircraft of all countries, including commercial aircraft, carrying out normal flight according to international law will not be affected.”
Notification only is required. So why not notify the Chinese? Are "commercial aircraft" excluded from the notification demand? Why is the notification demand so provocative? Why did China scramble jets? They identified the Japanese and South Korean jets without sending their own into the skies. The new "A.D.I.Z." is not Chinese territory according to this, no violation of Chinese sovereignty occurs by these overflights. So why did they scramble jets as if the U.S. and Japanese military were flying over Beijing?
