US General: East China Sea Interactions Safe

Posted by david on Oct 10, 2014 in Blog | 0 comments

Compared to the Pentagon’s hyperbole and firebrand denunciations of the recent past, a reasonable assessment by a ‘hawkish’ US general for a change:

Interactions between Chinese, Japanese and U.S. aircraft in the area have been very safe to a large extent, said Herbert Carlisle, Commander of US Pacific Air Forces.

“The good news is that both nations, and the U.S. included, have been very good about staying separate and not getting into a case where we are too close or we risk miscalculation,” he told a group of reporters at the Joint Base Pearl Harbor-Hickam headquarters in Hawaii.

Carlisle said he believes Chinese leaders know this situation and they are addressing the matter. “They have made statements that they want to be safe, they know the cost of miscalculation and the tragedy that could happen,” he said.

China declared the zone last November, saying all aircraft entering the area must notify Chinese authorities and are subject to emergency military measures if they do not identify themselves or obey orders from Beijing. It said it would “identify, monitor, control and react” to any air threats or unidentified flying objects coming from the sea.

The zone includes a chain of islands — known as the Senkaku in Japan and the Diaoyu in China — that are controlled by Tokyo but also claimed by Beijing.

Carlisle said the zone has put Chinese planes and Japanese planes in close proximity more frequently as each flies inside what they consider to be their own air defense-identification zones.

– AP