Chinese air-defense zone drama

[Flesh Thorn]

China responded on Thursday to growing international defiance of its new air-defense zone in the East China Sea both by sending advanced fighter jets to the area and trying to play down any threat of military retaliation—underlining the confusion and escalated tension over territorial disputes in East Asia.

The announcement by China's air force that it had sent fighters and an early warning aircraft to patrol the zone came just a few hours after Japan and South Korea, following the U.S. lead, said their military aircraft had flown into the zone without notifying Beijing over the past few days, and would continue to do so.

The U.S. challenged the zone's credibility on Tuesday by sending in two B-52 bombers without informing Chinese authorities, who had warned when they declared the zone on Saturday that such incursions would be met with unspecified "defensive emergency measures."

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[Jim]

Another view:

http://www.reuters.com/article/2013/11/ ... OM20131128