United States advises commercial airlines to abide by Chinese rules

WASHINGTON, Nov. 29 (UPI) -- The United States advises commercial airlines to comply with China's demand to be notified of flights entering its newly declared defense zone, officials said.

In contrast to U.S. military flights sent through the international airspace in defiance of China's decree, the Obama administration had decided to advise commercial flights to accede to Beijing's demands out of an abundance of caution and to avoid a potential accident or unintended confrontation, officials told The New York Times.

Japan, on the other hand, has told its commercial flights not to abide by China's new rules.

The Chinese zone covers the uninhabited islands -- known as the Senkaku Islands in Japan and the Diaoyu Islands in China -- in the East China Sea, whose control by Japan has created a huge territorial dispute with China, which also claims the islands. The zone is seen as meant to strengthen China's claims to the islands.

Earlier, U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry characterized China's "unilateral action" as an attempt to change the status quo in the East China Sea that would "only increase tensions in the region and create risks of an incident."

"We don't support efforts by any state to apply its air defense zone procedures to foreign aircraft not intending to enter its national airspace," Kerry had said.

Chinese military experts, asserting the zone is needed for self-defense, have claimed it will not affect the flight freedom of other countries' planes, once they have reported information such as their nationalities and flight plans, and follow relevant instructions after they enter the zone.