Asia Times Online
By Richard Javad Heydarian
MANILA – China’s recent controversial announcement of an air defense identification zone (ADIZ) covering disputed island features in the East China Sea has raised concerns in Southeast Asia that Beijing will soon invoke a similar measure for the hotly contested South China Sea.
The ADIZ encompasses the contested leodo/Suyan rock as well as the Senkaku/Diaoyu islands in the East China Sea, helping to set China on a sharper collision course with Japan, South Korea and Taiwan, as well as the United States.
Southeast Asian claimants in the South China Sea, particularly the Philippines and Vietnam, have reportedly been alarmed by China’s expressed willingness to “adopt defensive emergency measures to respond to aircraft that do not cooperate in the identification or refuse to follow the instructions”.
China’s Defense Ministry’s announcement said that it will “establish other air defense identification zones at an appropriate time after completing preparations”. To Manila and Hanoi, these statements signal that China intends to eventually adopt an ADIZ over the contested Paracel and Spratly islands and other features in the South China Sea.
Given the lopsided power asymmetry between China and its Southeast Asian neighbors, neither the Philippines nor Vietnam possesses credible indigenous deterrence against China’s prospective announcement of an ADIZ in the South China Sea.
Read more: http://www.atimes.com/atimes/Southeast_Asia/SEA-01-061213.html
