The Chinese People's Liberation Army Air Force (PLAAF) has accused F-15 fighters from the Japan Air Self-Defense Force (JASDF) of provoking Chinese aircraft within its unilaterally declared Air Defence Identification Zone (ADIZ) on 6 August.
In a statement on 7 August, PLAAF spokesperson Shen Jinke said that "several" Japanese F-15s tried to approach PLAAF aircraft twice and carried out "extensive reconnaissance" in the area. The statement, published by state-run news agency Xinhua , gave no details on the exact number of aircraft involved or what Chinese air assets were involved in the encounter.
"The air force has carried out monitoring and identification of foreign military aircraft entering the zone and has taken corresponding measures to different threats, effectively safeguarding national air defence security," said Shen, adding that the PLAAF aircraft "took reasonable, proper, and restrained measures to cope with the threat in the airspace".
China has a sovereign right to establish a maritime air defense zone over another region as it did in the East China Sea, the Chinese envoy to the Philippines said Monday.
The United States and key Asian allies have not honored the East China Sea zone, which was announced on Nov. 23 and is seen primarily as a bid to bolster China's claim over uninhabited Japanese-controlled islands known as Senkaku in Japan and Diaoyu in China. The Philippines is locked in a long territorial dispute with China in the South China Sea.
When asked to comment about concerns that China might set up a similar zone over the South China Sea, Ambassador Ma Keqing said in a news conference that it was within the right of the Chinese government to decide "where and when to set up the new air identification zone."
But she added she could not tell at this time if China would do so.
Ma said that the East China Sea zone's designation should not spark concerns.
"I think the target is not to trigger a conflict but to prevent, to pre-empt any tension to be raised in these areas," Ma said. "This will not hinder any normal freedom of flights within this area if they've notified the Chinese authorities."
The new U.S. ambassador to Manila, Philip Goldberg, described China's move as dangerous.
"We do not believe that this is a move intended to build confidence or, in any other way, improve the situation," Goldberg told reporters.
Instead, China's new zone "will create tension and the possibility of miscalculations and that's never good, especially in an area where we know that, whether it's over the Senkakus or ... the South China Sea."
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China sent fighter jets into its newly claimed -- and hotly disputed -- air defense zone above the East China Sea on Thursday, the same day that Japan's military firmly insisted its own patrols over the area wouldn't stop because of Beijing's declaration.
The People's Liberation Army Air Force flew warplanes, including Su-30 and J-11 aircraft, into the "air defense identification zone" that Beijing announced last week, air force spokesman Col. Shen Jinke said. A KJ-2000 -- an airborne radar early warning system -- also took flight.
The Russian-developed Su-30 is a two-seat aircraft described by its manufacturer as "a highly maneuverable fighter" capable of hitting ground and sea-surface targets. The Chinese-made J-11 is a single-seat fighter also capable of ground attacks.
The fighter jets conducted "routine air patrols ... aiming to strengthen monitoring on air targets in the zone and fulfill the air force's historic mission," Shen said in a statement posted on the Chinese defense ministry's website.
Jinke portrayed the mission as a "defensive measure ... in line with international practices." China's military has been on "high alert," he added, and is prepared to act "based on different air threats to firmly ensure air-defense safety."
