{"id":21272,"date":"2018-09-28T17:56:52","date_gmt":"2018-09-28T17:56:52","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/airforcetimes\/uncategorized\/2018\/09\/28\/us-military-posture-in-asia-could-change-if-china-declares-another-air-defense-identification-zone\/"},"modified":"2026-08-07T20:36:10","modified_gmt":"2026-08-07T20:36:10","slug":"us-military-posture-in-asia-could-change-if-china-declares-another-air-defense-identification-zone","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/airforcetimes\/news\/2018\/09\/28\/us-military-posture-in-asia-could-change-if-china-declares-another-air-defense-identification-zone\/","title":{"rendered":"US military posture in Asia could change if China declares another Air Defense Identification Zone"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

If China goes forward with plans to establish another Air Defense Identification Zone in the region, the U.S. could be forced to change its military posture in Asia<\/a>, a former senior national security official said this week.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cWe oppose China\u2019s establishment of an ADIZ<\/a> in other areas, including the South China Sea,\u201d Evan Medeiros, the former senior director for Asian affairs at the National Security Council, said in an interview with Japan Times<\/a>. \u201cWe have been very clear with the Chinese that we would see that [setting of another ADIZ] as a provocative and destabilizing development that would result in changes in our presence and military posture in the region.”<\/p>\n\n\n\n

An ADIZ is airspace over land or water in which the identification, location and control of aircraft is jointly performed by civilian air traffic control and military authorities in the interest of a country\u2019s national security.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

China set up one ADIZ over the East China Sea <\/a>in 2013, which many viewed as an attempt to try and bolster its claims over disputed territories, like the uninhabited Senkaku islands.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

China began to elevate its claims to the Japan-controlled Senkaku Islands in the 1970s after studies indicated there may be vast oil reserves in the surrounding sea bed, according to Japan Times.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Computer screens display a map showing the outline of China’s new air defense zone in the East China on the website of the Chinese Ministry of Defense, in Beijing Tuesday, Nov. 26, 2013. Beijing on Saturday, Nov. 23, 2013 issued a map of the zone – which includes a cluster of islands controlled by Japan but also claimed by China – and a set of rules that say all aircraft entering the area must notify Chinese authorities and are subject to emergency military measures if they do not identify themselves or obey Beijing’s orders. Chinese characters in red in the center of the map at left reads: “Air Defense Identification Zone in East China Sea.” (AP Photo\/Ng Han Guan)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

The United States is obligated to defend aggression against territories under Japanese administration under Article 5 of the U.S.-Japan Treaty of Mutual Cooperation and Security<\/a>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Defense Secretary James Mattis reaffirmed in 2017 that the defense obligation extends to the Senkakus.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cI made clear that our longstanding policy on the Senkaku Islands stands,\u201d Mattis said, according to a Pentagon transcript<\/a>. \u201cThe United States will continue to recognize Japanese administration of the islands.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

U.S. officials have also criticized China for setting up an ADIZ that overlaps with similar zones operated by Japan, South Korea and Taiwan without prior consultation.<\/p>\n\n\n\t