US criticise China air defence ID zone as inflammatory

The United States Monday slammed as "unnecessarily inflammatory" China's declaration of an air defense identification zone over much of the East China Sea, a move that has fueled tensions with Japan. "This announcement from the Chinese government was unnecessarily inflammatory," White House deputy spokesman Josh Earnest told reporters aboard Air Force One. "There are regional disputes in that part of the world and those disputes should be resolved diplomatically," he said. "There should be in this case plenty of overlapping common ground to reach a resolution that doesn't involve inflammatory, escalating rhetoric." Beijing said Saturday it had established an Air Defense Identification Zone (ADIZ) that requires all aircraft flying over an area of the East China Sea to obey its orders. The zone covers the Tokyo-controlled Senkakus, where ships and aircraft from the two countries already shadow each other in a potentially dangerous confrontation. Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe told parliament he was deeply concerned "as it is a profoundly dangerous act that may cause unintended consequences."