[Asia Economy Beijing=Special Correspondent Park Sun-mi] China is pushing to establish an Air Defense Identification Zone (ADIZ) in the South China Sea, a region with territorial disputes, making clashes with the United States and Southeast Asian countries inevitable.
On the 1st, Hong Kong's South China Morning Post (SCMP) reported, citing military sources, that the Chinese government is preparing an announcement regarding the establishment of an ADIZ in the South China Sea. It stated that China has been preparing plans for a South China Sea ADIZ since 2010, when it planned to set up an ADIZ in the East China Sea, and is currently waiting for an opportune time to make the announcement.
The South China Sea ADIZ would include the Pratas Islands (Chinese name: Dongsha), the Paracel Islands (Chinese name: Xisha), and the Spratly Islands (Chinese name: Nansha), all within the scope of the territorial disputes.
Although China remains tight-lipped about its plans to establish an ADIZ in the South China Sea, Taiwanese media recently detected increased Chinese military activities in the area, suggesting that these activities may be related to the push for establishing the ADIZ.
China has been expanding military facilities on artificial islands in the South China Sea, and in April, it further strengthened its territorial claims by establishing additional administrative districts on islands in the South China Sea.
An ADIZ refers to an airspace zone set up outside a country's sovereign airspace to defend its airspace. It is established to prevent unauthorized foreign aircraft from entering the country's airspace without prior identification. While many countries have set up ADIZs, they are not defined or regulated by international treaties or organizations.
SCMP assessed that if China announces the establishment of a South China Sea ADIZ, heightened tensions with the United States and neighboring Southeast Asian countries opposing China in the territorial disputes will be inevitable. The South China Sea, where China, Vietnam, the Philippines, Malaysia, and Taiwan are engaged in territorial disputes, is strategically important not only because it contains abundant natural resources such as oil and gas but also because it serves as a key global shipping route.
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