Air defense zone won't affect flight freedom

BEIJING - Establishment of China's air defense identification zone won't affect the flight freedom of other countries' aircraft, military experts reiterated on Sunday.

Foreign aircraft need only to report information such as their nationalities and flight plans, and follow other relevant instructions after they enter the zone, military expert Chai Lidan explained.

The aim is to better locate and identify flying objects in the zone, rather than to limit their freedom of flight, Chai added.

On Saturday morning, the Chinese government issued a statement on establishing the East China Sea Air Defense Identification Zone. It also issued an announcement on aircraft identification rules and a diagram for the zone.

Experts insist that the establishment of the zone accords with international common practices.

Since the United States established the first air defense identification zone in 1950, more than 20 countries and regions have set up such zones. Japan, which responded fiercely over China's air defense identification zone, also has such a zone.

Following the zone's instructions will in fact bring more security for aircraft flying over the East China Sea, military expert Meng Xiangqing said.

The zone will help reduce military misjudgment, avoid aerial friction and safeguard the flight order and safety, Meng said.

However, the rules set for the zone have been distorted and much-hyped by some countries, which are misleading their people that "entering the identification zone is an encroachment of the country's territorial space", and declaring "Chinese military threat theory," said Xing Hongbo, a military and legal expert.

Such distortion and hype are apparently ill-intentioned, Chai also said.