Air zone 'beneficial to safety'

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China's air defense identification zone in the East China Sea promotes "safety instead of danger, cooperation instead of confrontation," officials said in response to opposition from Japan and the United States.

Ministry of National Defense spokesman Geng Yansheng said on Tuesday that Japan needs to reflect on its own actions and correct its mistakes, while other parties should speak and act cautiously in order not to send signals that could fuel Tokyo's wrongdoing.

He made the remark after Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe said on Tuesday that Tokyoand Washington confirmed their cooperation on how to handle the air zone during talks with visiting US Vice President Joe Biden.

Biden called China's air zone "an attempt to unilaterally change the status quo" and said thathe will raise US concerns when meeting with President Xi Jinping later this week in Beijing.

He said the declaration of the zone has raised regional tensions and increased the risk of accidents and miscalculation.

Geng said Tokyo is not qualified to make remarks about China's “reasonable and lawful” establishment of the zone, since it has been stirring trouble in territorial disputes.

Foreign Ministry spokesman Hong Lei said that China is not the one that has aggravated tensions and that China objects that certain countries are seizing and exaggerating the matter for their own interest.

Biden arrived in Tokyo late on Monday. His weeklong trip in East Asia will also take him to China and South Korea.

Experts said that the issue may overshadow the US intention of focusing on economic affairs

Jin Canrong, a professor of international studies at Renmin University of China, said the absence of a joint statement, which was pursued by Tokyo, showed that Washington is now leading the current situation and is unwilling to be hijacked by the Japanese agenda.

So far, more than 55 airlines from 19 countries and three regions have reported their flight plans to Chinese authorities, according to the spokesman.

Since Beijing announced the zone in late November, Tokyo, Seoul and Washington have all sent military or paramilitary planes through it in shows of defiance.

Questions:

1. What does China’s air defense identification zone in the East China Sea promote?

2. Who is the vice president of the United States?

3. How many airlines have reported their flight plans to Chinese authorities?

Answers:

1. Safety instead of danger, cooperation instead of confrontation.

2. Joe Biden.

3. More than 55.

About the broadcaster:

Anne Ruisi is an editor at China Daily online with more than 30 years of experience as a newspaper editor and reporter. She has worked at newspapers in the U.S., including The Birmingham News in Alabama and City Newspaper of Rochester, N.Y.