Soft power?

In China’s maritime territorial disputes with its neighbors, South Korea has largely stayed out of the fray.
Part of the reason is economic: South Korean companies have sizeable investments in China and bilateral trade is robust.

Another reason is historical: China is feuding with a country South Koreans are not enamored with – former colonizer Japan.

Yet another reason is the fact that security-wise, China generally stayed out of South Korea’s hair… until recently, when Beijing declared an Air Defense Identification Zone or ADIZ over the East China Sea.
The Chinese ADIZ covers its claimed exclusive economic zone, but overlaps with Japan’s ADIZ – extended 22 kilometers westward by Tokyo last June to cover the Senkaku/Diaoyu group of islands. The Chinese ADIZ also overlaps with Taiwan’s and covers South Korea’s resort island, Jeju, the scenic setting for many romantic Korean telenovelas.

The Koreans aren’t amused. Reliable sources have told me that Beijing’s declaration has soured relations between the two countries, and Seoul is rethinking its defense posture vis-à-vis China.

Japan, for its part, appears to be adopting two major strategies. One is to ramp up its defense spending, upgrading its military capability over five years. This includes the development of an amphibious force and the acquisition of Ospreys, those winged aircraft capable of vertical takeoff that were sent by the US Pacific Command to the Yolanda-devastated areas.

Even with an increase to an annual $12 billion, Japan’s defense spending will still be much lower than China’s. But the Japanese are still ahead in technology. And Beijing will lose out on the other Japanese strategy, which is the projection of soft power, or winning friends and influencing the region.

* * *

Judging from official pronouncements, Beijing is counting on history to present the Japanese military upgrade as a provocative move in the region.

But Japan is not laying claim to nearly the entire South China Sea, and flexing its muscles to stake the claim. Also, Japan circa World War II has been eclipsed by modern Japan, home of Sony and Toyota, video games and manga. Memories of an aggressive Japan have also been overshadowed by bombed-out Hiroshima and Nagasaki.

During one visit to Hiroshima, I was hosted for dinner at the home of a family of atomic bomb survivors. The father, a member of the Japanese Imperial Army, told me he was deployed during the war in the same Philippine province where my grandfather, as a member of the US armed forces, fought the Japanese. The father returned to Hiroshima and was there with his family when the bomb was dropped.

Any visitor to Hiroshima will find it hard to believe that Japanese wartime aggression can be revived.
More recently, the tsunami in northeastern Japan added to the country’s image of tragedy.

This year, Japan marks 40 years as a dialogue partner of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN). Japan has combined its new national security strategy with a regional charm offensive – not a forte of the Chinese.

At the recent Japanese summit in Tokyo with ASEAN, which President Aquino attended, Japan committed $19.2 billion in aid to the region for the next five years.

A statement at the end of the summit announced enhanced cooperation between Japan and ASEAN “in ensuring freedom of overflight and civil aviation safety” as well as “freedom of navigation.”

“Together with ASEAN, I want to build the future of Asia where laws, rather than power, rule and people who worked hard will be rewarded – which would lead to a prosperous society with mutual respect,” Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe said.

The wording of the statement sounds a lot like the Philippines’ stand during other ASEAN gatherings. It calls for a rules-based, peaceful resolution of maritime territorial disputes, in accordance with international law.
Japan is providing patrol boats to the Philippines and Vietnam, which is also locked in a long-running territorial dispute with China.

More recently, Pinoys remember Japan for its prompt and substantial response in the areas destroyed by Super Typhoon Yolanda, the powerful earthquake in Cebu and Bohol, and the siege of Zamboanga City. Private Japanese companies have also pitched in.

Japan’s Defense Minister Itsunori Onodera visited Tacloban on Dec. 8, at the same time that Australian Foreign Minister Julie Bishop also visited.

I went with the Aussies on that day. From their tent hospital set up in Tacloban I could see the camp pitched by the Japanese forces. I don’t think any Pinoy expressed unease over the return of so many Japanese soldiers to Philippine soil.

Many members of the wartime Japanese Imperial Army were in fact Korean conscripts. But today Korea has a benign image in the Philippines, with its K-Pop, telenovelas and the presence of its manufacturing giants. The Koreans have also often expressed their appreciation for the Philippines’ deployment of a contingent to their country as a modest support force during the Korean War.

In an unprecedented gesture, the South Koreans are deploying over 500 soldiers overseas for the first time for purely post-disaster reconstruction work – in the Visayas. They will be posted here for a year.

* * *

Pinoy reaction might have been different if Chinese soldiers had been sent to the typhoon areas. Beijing probably considered the reaction as well, and finally decided to send instead medical professionals on a hospital ship.

Since the help arrived much later than those of other countries, however, the gesture looked mainly like a reaction to criticism (from non-Filipino commentators) of Beijing’s initial aid of $100,000 for emergency relief. A common comment was that Beijing failed its test of projecting soft power in the region.

I missed several chances in recent weeks to meet with Chinese Ambassador Ma Keqing, who will be leaving Manila this month. The soft-spoken envoy has had a rough time here. At the start of her stint she told me she was “not very popular” in the Philippines, and that every time she opened her mouth in public she tended to end up in deeper trouble.

From her statement at her farewell reception last week, which I also missed, it looks like she hasn’t changed her opinion of her posting in Manila.

Unless there’s a change in Beijing’s actions in the region, it’s unlikely that her successor will have an easier time.

And the Philippines, together with some other countries in the region, will inevitably move closer to friends such as Japan.



Dec 07 2013 

China is not the only Asian country that has declared an Air Defense Identification Zone, or ADIZ.

Japan declared its ADIZ way back in 1969, extending its boundaries several times, most recently in June this year to include contested islands. South Korea, Vietnam and Taiwan also have their ADIZ. Like common waters, the ADIZ of several countries can overlap.

Unlike other states, however, Beijing’s unilateral declaration of an ADIZ is ratcheting up tension in the region. This is because Beijing is claiming nearly all the waters around it as its own. If it could get away with it, Beijing would probably draw up a 20-dash line and claim all waters all the way to Palau for China’s shark’s fin and turtle soups.

If Beijing declares an ADIZ over the East China Sea, it may not be long before it declares an ADIZ in the airspace over its so-called nine-dash line in the South China Sea. We may soon see Chinese military jets flying over Palawan’s airspace, protecting Chinese fishing boats, oil explorers, and gatherers of scaly anteaters, birds’ nests and corals.

An airspace, in international terms, means the sky over land territory plus waters up to 22 kilometers from the coast. The ADIZ is supposedly a more defined, restricted airspace where a country monitors and identifies approaching aircraft.

Defining territorial airspace while up in the sky can of course be tricky. Miscalculations and accidents can lead to confrontation and escalate into armed conflict, especially between countries with a long history of rivalry.

*   *   *

This is the concern expressed by the United States in China’s unilateral declaration. But Chinese President Xi Jinping, meeting with US Vice President Joe Biden this week, reportedly stood firm. We can guess that Xi has his people’s support in this, since China’s ADIZ covers airspace claimed by Japan, South Korea and Taiwan – not exactly Beijing’s best friends. Xi will lose face if he backs down on this issue.
Closer to Earth, China has also finally deployed its first aircraft carrier – a refurbished one pre-owned by Ukraine.

Photos showed the Soviet-era Varyag, now renamed Liaoning, with no aircraft on board.

An American naval official reportedly described the Liaoning as a “museum.” US navy officials have also told me that it will take years before the Chinese can have the trained crew for a fully operational aircraft carrier.
But the Liaoning’s deployment was an expression of Chinese annoyance after the US flew two unarmed B-52 bombers over the Senkaku/Diaoyu island chain claimed by both Japan and China. The bombers were deployed after Beijing declared its ADIZ.

Chinese officials in Manila and Beijing have told me that they are fully aware of the limitations in their defense capability and are not competing with the world’s lone superpower. The Chinese, incidentally, consider the superpower concept a relic of the cold war.

They prefer to project “soft power,” the Chinese say. But even in this aspect they stumbled when it came to timely assistance for the areas devastated by Super Typhoon Yolanda. Because China’s initial aid commitment was a pittance compared to what much of the world sent ASAP, its deployment of a hospital ship, although much appreciated by the typhoon victims, was seen here largely as (in Pinoy slang) a “forced to good” gesture.

China insists it has no hegemonic ambitions in the region. But its ADIZ declaration fuels concerns about what US officials see as an “emerging pattern of behavior” for the Asian giant.

That behavior is prompting several countries in the region, the Philippines included, to strengthen security cooperation with the US and its other close allies Japan and South Korea.

A concern for Filipinos is that the Liaoning will show up one day soon off Zambales in the West Philippine Sea.

*   *   *

David Carden, America’s first resident ambassador to the Association of Southeast Asian Nations, wishes that US ties with the region could go beyond the China issue.

Carden was in Manila earlier this week for the ASEAN Youth Summit. Meeting with a small group of journalists, he expressed his government’s concern over China’s ADIZ declaration and reiterated support for Manila’s arbitration case filed with the United Nations.

But he also emphasized that China must be a partner in regional growth. He pointed out that China has been a partner of ASEAN in many aspects apart from trade, including education, connectivity and infrastructure development.

“We applaud China’s engagement in the region,” Carden said. “I think that there are clear opportunities that exist in our interactions with one another.”

He lamented that whenever people discuss the US pivot to Asia or rebalancing of forces, “they always talk about the military aspect.”

US interests in the region, Carden emphasized, go beyond security issues. “The most immediate focus is an ASEAN economic community by 2015,” he said as he prodded the Philippines to join the Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP).

“It’s our hope and our expectation that our Filipino friends will see it in their best interest to be part of the TPP,” he said.

The TPP will be a platform not only for economic integration but also for empowering the Asia-Pacific to address four major challenges, Carden said: education, corruption, environmental issues and inequitable growth.

America, which Carden says bears “some of the responsibility” for the challenges, is also promoting the “four freedoms” – of expression and religion, and from fear and want.

Carden pointed out that everything is interconnected – environmental problems affect public health and food security, for example – and the world has gotten to the size “where we’re all neighbors now… we’re all in this together now.”

“It matters not only that you grow but also how you grow,” he said.

He could tell that to the Chinese, now the world’s second largest economy and still growing, but he’ll probably be told to mind his own business.

source:  Philippines Star Column of  Ana Marie Pamintuan

PH, Japan vow commitment to free airspace

President Aquino and Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe have reaffirmed their commitment to assuring the freedom of flight in international airspace amid China's establishment of an air defense identification zone (ADIZ).

"We reiterated our commitment to uphold the rule of law, promote the peaceful settlement of disputes, and to assure freedom of flight in international airspace," President Aquino said, however, stopping short of mentioning China, with whom the Philippines is locked in a territorial dispute with.

Aquino and Abe met ahead of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (Asean)-Japan Commemorative Summit in Tokyo.

The leaders of the 10-nation bloc is meeting Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe in Tokyo this weekend to mark the 40th anniversary of ties.

Concerns over Beijing's ADIZ have been mounting since last month. It has been criticized by South Korea and Taiwan, while the United States and Japan have defied it by sending aircrafts right through the zone.

China earlier defended its ADIZ, saying it is merely exercising its right to defend itself.

Beijing also said, it might set up a similar air defense zone in the West Philippine Sea.

Aside from the Philippines, several other Asean countries are also involved in territorial disputes with China.

source:  Yahoo - ANC

U.S., Chinese warships narrowly avoid collision in South China Sea

WASHINGTON/SHANGHAI (Reuters) - A U.S. guided missile cruiser operating in international waters in the South China Sea was forced to take evasive action last week to avoid a collision with a Chinese warship maneuvering nearby, the U.S. Pacific Fleet said in a statement on Friday.

The incident came as the USS Cowpens was operating near China's only aircraft carrier, the Liaoning, and at a time of heightened tensions in the region following Beijing's declaration of an Air Defense Identification Zone farther north in the East China Sea, a U.S. defence official said.

Another Chinese warship maneuvered near the Cowpens in the incident on December 5, and the Cowpens was forced to take evasive action to avoid a collision, the Pacific Fleet said in its statement.

"Eventually, effective bridge-to-bridge communications occurred between the U.S. and Chinese crews, and both vessels maneuvered to ensure safe passage," said the defence official.

The near miss was the most significant U.S.-China maritime incident in the South China Sea since 2009, said security expert Carl Thayer at the Australian Defence Force Academy.

Heightened tensions over China's military assertiveness have raised concerns that an minor incident in disputed maritime waters, the South China Sea and East China Sea, could quickly escalate. Both Japan and China lay claim to islands in the East China Sea and have scrambled aircraft in recent months over the disputed seas and conducted naval patrols.

China and several ASEAN nations have competing territorial claims in the South China Sea.
The U.S. has raised the latest incident at a "high level" with the Chinese government, according to a State Department official quoted by the U.S. military's Stars and Stripes newspaper.

In Beijing, the Chinese foreign and defence ministries have yet to respond to questions about the incident, while China's often-nationalistic on-line platforms were filling with debate about the near-miss.

One poster demanded the Chinese navy follow-up by blazing an "independent sea lane" to Hawaii.
Beijing routinely objects to U.S. military surveillance operations within its exclusive economic zone, while Washington insists the United States and other countries have the right to conduct routine operations in what its says are international waters.

The U.S. Navy said the Cowpens was conducting regular freedom-of-navigation operations when the incident occurred.

China deployed the Liaoning to the South China Sea just days after announcing a new air defence zone which covers air space around a group of tiny islands in the East China Sea that are administered by Japan but claimed by Beijing as well.

Beijing declared the air zone late last month and demanded that aircraft flying through it provide flight plans and other information. The United States and its allies rejected the demand and have flown military aircraft into the zone.

The Chinese carrier, which has yet to be fully armed and is still being used as a training platform, was flanked by escort ships including two destroyers and two frigates.

Asked if the Chinese vessel was moving toward the Cowpens with aggressive intent, an official declined to speculate on the motivations of the Chinese crew.

"U.S. leaders have been clear about our commitment to develop a stable and continuous military-to-military relationship with China," the official said in the email.

"Whether it is a tactical at-sea encounter, or strategic dialogue, sustained and reliable communication mitigates the risk of mishaps, which is in the interest of both the U.S. and China," the official said in an email to Reuters.

Security expert Thayer said the incident was the most significant since five Chinese ships harassed a U.S. oceanographic research vessel, the USS Impeccable, in 2009, also in the South China Sea.
"There have been hints of other incidents that both sides have apparently kept quiet but not this time," he said.

"The U.S. is determined to stand by its rights in international waters and is clearly expecting China to act accordingly." (Additional reporting by Manuel Mogato in MANILA and Greg Torode in HONG KONG; Editing by Jim Loney, David Brunnstrom and Michael Perry.)

source:  Yahoo!

‘China’s planned ADIZ over West Phl Sea to trigger tension’

MANILA, Philippines - Visiting Japanese Defense Minister Itsunori Onodera said yesterday that China’s plan to establish an Air Defense Identification Zone (ADIZ) over the West Philippine Sea would further trigger tension as Beijing’s unilateral action would be opposed by other nations in Southeast Asia.

Emerging from a bilateral meeting with Department of National Defense Secretary Voltaire Gazmin at Camp Aguinaldo, Onodera pointed out that an ADIZ over the South China Sea would cause alarm not only to the Japanese government but to the international community as well.

“I think the world shares the same understanding that the regional tension should not be raised by Beijing’s unilateral course of action,” Onodera said.

Japan and China are locked in a territorial row over a  chain of islands known as Senkakus to the Japanese and Daoiyu to the Chinese in the East China Sea.

Tension has been mounting in the region following China’s establishment of ADIZ over the area, a moved defied by the Tokyo government and the US military.

Beijing recently announced it is also establishing an ADIZ over the South China Sea to further boost its maritime claim in the hotly-contested region against other claimant countries including Brunei, Malaysia, Taiwan, Vietnam and the Philippines.

“The United States, South Korea, Taiwan and European Union and other countries are expressing strong concern over this. If the new ADIZ will be set in South China Sea or the West Philippine Sea, I think the government of Japan needs to express its concern similarly to what we have stand in East China Sea,” Onodera said.

Aside from several reefs that Beijing has converted into forward naval bases in the South China Sea, it has also established what  it calls Sansha City on the Woody Island in the Paracels to manage its supposed territorial waters in the East and South China Seas.

Several Chinese warships have been conducting regular patrols over the two areas. As China’s naval operations are continuously being challenged by Japan in the East China Sea, they have remained largely uncontested in the South China Sea and  West Philippine Sea.

China has been maintaining warships in Panganiban Reef and Subi Reef in Palawan. Only this year, China deployed two maritime surveillance vessels within the vicinity of Ayungin Shoal.

source;  Philippine Star

Selfie over the South China Sea

The Oxford University Press, the publisher of the Oxford dictionaries, has announced that “selfie” has been declared word of the year for 2013. The word, “smartphone” self-portrait posted online” saw a huge jump in usage in the past year to describe inordinate if not obsessive attention to oneself and his advocacies. Selfie could well apply to actions and statements of claimants to the land and sea area at the South China Sea.
For months, China has been engaged in selfies in the SCS, the most recent examples being the “Air Defense Identification Zone” in the East Sea and the “training mission” of their aircraft carrier Liaoning in the SCS, The twin moves follow previous Chinese “effectiveness” in the area such as the virtual occupation of Panatag Shoal, dispatch of Chinese fishing fleets accompanied by naval units, and creation of Chinese administrative units to “supervise” their territories. The biggest selfie is their nine-dash line. All these selfies do not build trust, escalate tensions, and curtail preventive diplomacy.

The Philippines has its own selfies. It hauled China to the Unclos Arbitral Tribunal. It has welcomed “increase national presence” of US troops to the Philippines and agreed to grant access to Philippine bases.

In doing its selfies on the WPS, the Philippines should engage in some sort of stock taking on recent developments—what we did which we should not have done and what we did not do and should have done. The Philippines in the Arbitral Panel is a positive step for the country. Our immediate concern in the Panel would be, (a) to convince the Panel that our submission is sufficient for them to assume jurisdiction.
(b) That our case does not fall within the reservations made by China to the disputes settlement mechanism and (c) that our memorials to be submitted by March next year should contain hard, specific data well grounded in fact and in law which will convince the Panel to award what we are praying for. Our memorials should contain a prayer for the Panel to grant the Philippines, “Provisional measures” or “preventive remedies” against on going tactics of China in the West Philippine Sea. The process in Panel will be protracted and China is likely to continue with their activities in the area.

Our petition should include measures against Chinese tactics of cabbage (surrounding a contested area step by step with naval presence and thus wrapped it like a cabbage).

A General of the People Liberation Army, which calls the shots in the SCS openly advocates this strategy. Another tactics called “Salami slicing” should also be prevented. This strategy involves a series of unfriendly acts, which can result in strategic change short of so called “small wars”. We should develop a framework strategy in case (a) we win in the Panel “how do we harness this victory to protect and promote our national interest” (b) in case we lose, what other options do we have.

Serendipity is not a policy option.

The Philippines together with Asean and other countries put great importance on a code of conduct in the South China Sea. China’s agreement to hold consultations on the subject is again a positive step. However, China’s position remains that any code could come only when the time is ripe. They still abhor the idea of “code.”

There are lessons to be learned from the first attempt to develop a code of conduct.
First, the Philippines should lead and avoid being only a fellow traveler in the negotiations. Second, the Philippines must have a draft, just like we had in 2002. The Philippines draft became an Asean draft, which we presented in a China-Asean meeting; China rejected the Draft but it opened the door for China to present their own views and engaged us in discussions. Third trust and confidence must accompany talks, which talks should go beyond regular Asean-China meetings. The SOM-senior officials- must develop a process of consultations to go forward.

US pivot to Asia
The Philippines considers and welcomes the US “pivot” to Asia as an aid of its position on the West Philippine Sea. The volume and tone of the debate on the issue should be lowered and efforts should the directed to how best to maximize the rotational presence and access to Philippine bases which we are about to grant. Despite protestations to the contrary, China perceives the pivot as directed against them.
The outcome in the Panel, in the talks on the code of conduct and the negotiations in the pivot are defining moments for Philippine foreign and diplomacy in the South China Sea.

There are several realities, which must be taken in to account as we negotiate these issues. First the security architecture of Asia will be determined to a significant extent by the strategic relations between the US and China. Second, territorial and maritime jurisdictions are generational issues, which will take time to resolve if ever at all. Trust must accompany relations between states and positions. Let us also keep in mind that China and the United States of yesterday are not the China and US of today.

We should take care that we do not raise unrealistic expectations of general support for principles of general international law, which are already enshrined in international instruments. They make us feel good but are not yet accomplishments of our objectives. Peaceful settlement of disputes, freedom of navigation etc. have been open quoted by both angels and demons alike.

The Philippine selfie in the SCS/WPS must be clear, creative, alert, agile.

source:  Manila Times Column of Amb. Lauro L. Baja

US forces operating 'normally' in China air zone

US military chiefs insist they will not change their operations despite a move by China to scramble fighter jets to monitor American and Japanese aircraft in Beijing's newly declared air defence zone.

China flew warplanes into its air defence identification zone (ADIZ) on Friday, Chinese state media said, nearly a week after it announced the zone, which covers islands at the centre of a dispute between Beijing and Tokyo, raising regional tensions.

The Xinhua report indicated that Japan and the United States are continuing to disregard China's demands that aircraft submit flight plans when traversing the area in the East China Sea or face unspecified "defensive emergency measures".

"We have flights routinely transiting international airspace throughout the Pacific, including the area China is including in their ADIZ," Pentagon spokesman Colonel Steve Warren said on Friday.
"These flights are consistent with long-standing and well-known US freedom of navigation policies that are applied in many areas of operation around the world. I can confirm that the US has and will continue to operate in the area as normal."

Chinese air force spokesman Shen Jinke earlier said several combat aircraft were scrambled to "verify the identities" of US and Japanese aircraft entering the air defence zone, according to Xinhua.
The Chinese planes, which included at least two fighter jets, identified two US surveillance aircraft and 10 Japanese aircraft including an F-15 warplane, Shen said.

The United States, South Korea, Japan and other countries have accused Beijing of increasing regional tensions with its new air defence zone.

Japan and South Korea both said Thursday they had disregarded the ADIZ, showing a united front after US B-52 bombers also entered the area.

Chinese media call for 'timely countermeasures'
But Beijing is facing considerable internal pressure to assert itself. China's state media called Friday for "timely countermeasures without hesitation" if Japan violates the zone.
Washington has security alliances with both Tokyo and Seoul, and analysts say that neither China nor Japan -- the world's second and third-biggest economies, and major trading partners of each other -- want to engage in armed conflict.

The Global Times newspaper, which generally takes a more nationalistic tone than China's government, said in an editorial Friday: "We should carry out timely countermeasures without hesitation against Japan when it challenges China's newly declared ADIZ."

The paper, which is close to the ruling Communist party, said: "We are willing to engage in a protracted confrontation with Japan."

But it shied away from threatening Washington, which sent giant Stratofortress bombers inside the zone, issuing an unmistakable message.

"If the US does not go too far, we will not target it in safeguarding our air defence zone," the paper said.
The Communist party seeks to bolster its public support by tapping into deep-seated resentment of Japan for its brutal invasion of the country in the 1930s.

Such passions are easily ignited, and posters on Chinese social media networks have urged Beijing to act.
China's rules covering the zone require aircraft to provide their flight plan, declare their nationality and maintain two-way radio communication -- or face unspecified "defensive emergency measures".

Both Japan and Washington have ADIZs of their own, and China accuses them of double standards, though China's zone includes a rock that is disputed between Beijing and Seoul, as well as islands controlled by Japan and claimed by China.

Japan denies that there is a dispute over the islands, and Chief Cabinet Secretary Yoshihide Suga declined Friday to be drawn on reports that a Chinese envoy had suggested setting up a mechanism to prevent mid-air incidents.

"Our country's principle is that we will assert our position firmly in a stern but calm manner," Suga said. "And we keep the window of dialogue open."

The Yomiuri Shimbun reported that the United States and Japan planned to enhance military cooperation in the area, with Tokyo permanently stationing E-2C early-warning planes in Okinawa, and US Global Hawk unmanned drones expected to be operated from Japan soon.

The European Union added its voice to the criticism of the zone on Friday, with its top foreign affairs official Catherine Ashton saying it "contributes to raising tensions in the region".

At a regular briefing Chinese foreign ministry spokesman Qin Gang dismissed her remarks, saying: "Ms Ashton knows that within the EU, some countries have ADIZs, so I don't know if that means the situation in Europe is getting more tense."

US Vice President Joe Biden is visiting the region next week, and administration officials said that while in Beijing he will raise Washington's concerns about the ADIZ, and China's assertiveness towards its neighbours.

The Philippines has voiced concern that China may extend control of air space over disputed areas of the South China Sea, where the two nations have a separate territorial dispute.

source:  Yahoo News