The U.S. and China both signaled they are backing away from a confrontation over China's new air-defense zone, with both nations moving toward an understanding that the zone won't be policed in ways that threaten the region or endanger the lives of pilots and passengers.
U.S. officials insist the defense zone established by China on Nov. 23 over disputed islands in the East China Sea is illegitimate.
U.S. officials insist the defense zone established by China on Nov. 23 over disputed islands in the East China Sea is illegitimate.
Some said privately that they don't expect China to roll it back.
Vice President Joe Biden met with Chinese President Xi Jinping for more than five hours in Beijing on Wednesday to discuss the air-defense zone and other issues.
A focus of Mr. Biden in those meetings was to define the "rules of engagement" between China and other nations in the region to prevent a calamity, said a former national security aide to Mr. Biden who spoke to administration staffers on the trip.
"I don't think it's going to disappear," said the former aide, Julianne Smith.
Vice President Joe Biden met with Chinese President Xi Jinping for more than five hours in Beijing on Wednesday to discuss the air-defense zone and other issues.
A focus of Mr. Biden in those meetings was to define the "rules of engagement" between China and other nations in the region to prevent a calamity, said a former national security aide to Mr. Biden who spoke to administration staffers on the trip.
"I don't think it's going to disappear," said the former aide, Julianne Smith.
Having already set up the zone, "it would be really hard for [the Chinese] to back out of this," she said.
"The bottom line right now is doing all we can on the margins to ensure the safety of any of the aircraft that finds itself in this vicinity," said Ms. Smith, a senior vice president at Beacon Global Strategies.
Mr. Biden arrived in South Korea on Thursday for another round of talks aimed at defusing tensions in the region, grappling with Seoul's plans to expand its own air-defense zone in a move that stands to intensify animosities in the volatile region.
"The bottom line right now is doing all we can on the margins to ensure the safety of any of the aircraft that finds itself in this vicinity," said Ms. Smith, a senior vice president at Beacon Global Strategies.
Mr. Biden arrived in South Korea on Thursday for another round of talks aimed at defusing tensions in the region, grappling with Seoul's plans to expand its own air-defense zone in a move that stands to intensify animosities in the volatile region.
South Korean officials will meet on Friday to finalize plans for the new zone.
Obama administration officials reiterated on Thursday that the U.S. doesn't accept China's zone and isn't changing U.S. military operations to accommodate the Chinese.
Calling China's actions "dangerous and provocative," White House spokesman Jay Carney said of the zone Thursday that "we don't accept it and we call on China not to implement it."
Still, there was little talk of China formally rescinding the air-defense identification zone, or ADIZ.
Obama administration officials reiterated on Thursday that the U.S. doesn't accept China's zone and isn't changing U.S. military operations to accommodate the Chinese.
Calling China's actions "dangerous and provocative," White House spokesman Jay Carney said of the zone Thursday that "we don't accept it and we call on China not to implement it."
Still, there was little talk of China formally rescinding the air-defense identification zone, or ADIZ.
A defense official echoed the U.S. position that China shouldn't "implement" the zone—statements that could suggest the U.S. wants China to halt steps toward adopting the stringent regulations Beijing originally announced.
The U.S. position, coupled with China's elastic interpretation of its own rules so far, appeared to reduce the immediate threat of the standoff widening into a military clash that could embroil the U.S.
China on Thursday asked the U.S. to respect the zone, saying it complied with international norms.
The U.S. position, coupled with China's elastic interpretation of its own rules so far, appeared to reduce the immediate threat of the standoff widening into a military clash that could embroil the U.S.
China on Thursday asked the U.S. to respect the zone, saying it complied with international norms.
But China added that it was willing to discuss "technical issues" with other countries on flight safety in the region.
Beijing has also clarified requirements that aircraft file reports or face unspecified defensive measures.
China's defense ministry, which issued the rules, now says the military won't shoot down aircraft in the zone, and will instead monitor and identify them, only sending up fighter jets to track them if they are considered a threat.
Defense experts said that interpretation of the rules is relatively close to how other countries, including the U.S. and Japan, enforce air-defense zones, which are established unilaterally and aren't regulated by an international body.
"Here we have our ally, Japan, saying the zone should be undone, but that's a position the U.S. is unlikely to take," said M. Taylor Fravel, an expert on China and international security at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology.
Beijing has also clarified requirements that aircraft file reports or face unspecified defensive measures.
China's defense ministry, which issued the rules, now says the military won't shoot down aircraft in the zone, and will instead monitor and identify them, only sending up fighter jets to track them if they are considered a threat.
Defense experts said that interpretation of the rules is relatively close to how other countries, including the U.S. and Japan, enforce air-defense zones, which are established unilaterally and aren't regulated by an international body.
"Here we have our ally, Japan, saying the zone should be undone, but that's a position the U.S. is unlikely to take," said M. Taylor Fravel, an expert on China and international security at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology.
"The real question is what you do to enforce it, so that's why you see the U.S. increasingly focusing on the procedures."
He added that "there's been an evolution" in the U.S. position.
The U.S. response has disappointed officials in Japan, which has called for the zone to be withdrawn.
The U.S. response has disappointed officials in Japan, which has called for the zone to be withdrawn.
Still, Japanese officials said Thursday they understand the U.S. predicament and remain in lockstep over basic security principles.
Some congressional Republicans also are unhappy with the White House.
Some congressional Republicans also are unhappy with the White House.
"You've got to give the other side notice right off the bat that there is going to be a cost to them for being so aggressive," said Rep. Dana Rohrabacher (R., Calif.), a member of the House Committee on Foreign Affairs.
Administration officials "certainly aren't projecting strength now that we're on the edge of a crisis."
The discrepancy between the U.S. and Japanese positions highlights the challenge facing the U.S. as it tries to reassure its closest traditional allies in the region, Japan and South Korea, while adapting to China's rapidly expanding influence.
The Obama administration has pledged to refocus military and other resources on Asia. But Asian officials expressed doubts about U.S. staying power.
Mr. Biden in his meetings with Mr. Xi repeated that the U.S. didn't recognize the new zone, but never demanded that China rescind it—the position Tokyo has taken since China first unveiled the plan last month.
U.S. officials have said in recent days that their main concern is China's stipulation that the rules apply to any aircraft in the zone, even if it is not planning to enter China's national airspace.
Gen. Martin Dempsey, the Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, said at a Pentagon briefing this week that the international norm was for pilots to report to local authorities only if intending to enter its airspace.
"So it wasn't the declaration of the ADIZ that actually was destabilizing," he said.
The discrepancy between the U.S. and Japanese positions highlights the challenge facing the U.S. as it tries to reassure its closest traditional allies in the region, Japan and South Korea, while adapting to China's rapidly expanding influence.
The Obama administration has pledged to refocus military and other resources on Asia. But Asian officials expressed doubts about U.S. staying power.
Mr. Biden in his meetings with Mr. Xi repeated that the U.S. didn't recognize the new zone, but never demanded that China rescind it—the position Tokyo has taken since China first unveiled the plan last month.
U.S. officials have said in recent days that their main concern is China's stipulation that the rules apply to any aircraft in the zone, even if it is not planning to enter China's national airspace.
Gen. Martin Dempsey, the Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, said at a Pentagon briefing this week that the international norm was for pilots to report to local authorities only if intending to enter its airspace.
"So it wasn't the declaration of the ADIZ that actually was destabilizing," he said.
"It was their assertion that they would cause all aircraft entering the ADIZ to report regardless of whether they were intending to enter into the sovereign airspace of China. And that is destabilizing."
That appeared to be a departure from earlier U.S. statements, which declared the establishment of the zone itself as a destabilizing attempt to change the status quo in the region.
Defense officials said Thursday that the Pentagon's position hadn't changed.
"The U.S. does not recognize this ADIZ and urges China to not implement it," said a defense official.
That appeared to be a departure from earlier U.S. statements, which declared the establishment of the zone itself as a destabilizing attempt to change the status quo in the region.
Defense officials said Thursday that the Pentagon's position hadn't changed.
"The U.S. does not recognize this ADIZ and urges China to not implement it," said a defense official.
"U.S. military flights have and will continue to operate in the region and we will not recognize the ADIZ."
Chuck Hagel, the U.S. defense secretary, was asked at the same briefing whether he thought China should "roll back" the zone.
"It's not that the ADIZ itself is new or unique," Mr. Hagel said.
Chuck Hagel, the U.S. defense secretary, was asked at the same briefing whether he thought China should "roll back" the zone.
"It's not that the ADIZ itself is new or unique," Mr. Hagel said.
"The biggest concern that we have is how it was done so unilaterally and so immediately without any consultation or international consultation."
Officials in Tokyo say that Japan and the U.S. maintain a unified policy in their response to the ADIZ.
Officials in Tokyo say that Japan and the U.S. maintain a unified policy in their response to the ADIZ.
They also deny that Washington has changed its stance to accept Beijing's new policy in effect.
"The U.S. and Japan reaffirmed that China's unilateral change shall not be accepted and that we will continue to work closely together," said Yoshihide Suga, chief cabinet secretary.
However, Japanese officials say in private that the statements made by Mr. Biden and other U.S. officials over the past few days have fallen short of what they had hoped to hear under an ideal scenario.
Neither has the U.S. criticized China specifically for its decision to include the islands at the center of its bilateral dispute with Japan in the new zone, even as they used expressions such as "escalatory" or "destabilizing" to describe the move.
Japanese officials say the inclusion of the islands is the biggest issue they have with the Chinese zone.
"China takes advantage of other countries when they show their weakness and grabs things away from them one after another," said Makoto Iokibe, a former president of the National Defense Academy.
"The U.S. and Japan reaffirmed that China's unilateral change shall not be accepted and that we will continue to work closely together," said Yoshihide Suga, chief cabinet secretary.
However, Japanese officials say in private that the statements made by Mr. Biden and other U.S. officials over the past few days have fallen short of what they had hoped to hear under an ideal scenario.
Neither has the U.S. criticized China specifically for its decision to include the islands at the center of its bilateral dispute with Japan in the new zone, even as they used expressions such as "escalatory" or "destabilizing" to describe the move.
Japanese officials say the inclusion of the islands is the biggest issue they have with the Chinese zone.
"China takes advantage of other countries when they show their weakness and grabs things away from them one after another," said Makoto Iokibe, a former president of the National Defense Academy.
"The U.S. shouldn't tolerate the attempt to change the status quo by use of force. If they do, it's wrong."
Japanese officials have also privately complained about U.S regulators' decision to urge its private carriers to comply with China's new rule and file their flight plans.
Japanese officials have also privately complained about U.S regulators' decision to urge its private carriers to comply with China's new rule and file their flight plans.
The move has put Tokyo in an awkward position as it has forbid its own airlines from doing so.
Still, Japanese officials are quick to point out that the U.S. and Japan are in agreement over basic principles on regional security and in their mutual commitment to their six-decade-old alliance.
Still, Japanese officials are quick to point out that the U.S. and Japan are in agreement over basic principles on regional security and in their mutual commitment to their six-decade-old alliance.
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