TIL Desk/World/Taipei-Taiwan’s new defence minister said on Monday the island would not recognise any air defence zone declared by China over the South China Sea, as the island’s top security agency warned such a move could usher in a wave of regional tension. U.S. officials have expressed concern that an international court ruling expected in coming weeks on a case brought by the Philippines against China over its South China Sea claims could prompt Beijing to declare an air defence identification zone, or ADIZ, as it did over the East China Sea in 2013.
China claims most of the South China Sea, through which $5 trillion in ship-borne trade passes every year. The Philippines, Vietnam, Malaysia, Taiwan and Brunei have overlapping claims, as well as close military ties with Washington. “We will not recognise any ADIZ by China,” Taiwan defence minister Feng Shih-kuan told lawmakers in a parliamentary session.
The comments come after Taiwan’s new government of President Tsai Ing-wen, of the independence-leaning ruling party, was sworn into power last month. Tsai’s Democratic Progressive Party overturned eight-years of China-friendly Nationalist rule on the island. China drew condemnation from Japan and the United States when it imposed its ADIZ, in which aircraft are supposed to identify themselves to Chinese authorities, above the East China Sea.
China has neither confirmed nor denied it plans such a zone for the South China Sea, saying that a decision would be based on the threat level and that it had every right to set one up. “In the future, we don’t rule out China designating an ADIZ. If China is on track to announce this, it could usher in a new wave of tension in the region,” Taiwan’s National Security Bureau said in a report presented to parliament.
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