A number of Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) lawmakers yesterday voiced displeasure with Japan’s plan to move its Air Defense Identification Zone (ADIZ) west, overlapping parts of Taiwan’s own ADIZ.
Japan’s Senkei Shinbum reported yesterday that Tokyo intends to re-draw its ADIZ for Yonaguni Island by moving the zone westward in the middle of next month.
Yonaguni is Japan’s westernmost territory and it lies 108km from Taiwan’s east coast. The airspace above the western two-thirds of the island now falls under Taiwan’s ADIZ.
An ADIZ differs from a flight information zone in that any aircraft using the airspace needs to obtain advance approval from the appropriate authority. Unapproved flights can be viewed as an incursion. Taiwan’s ADIZ borders China to the northwest, Japan to the east and the Philippines to the south.
The Ministry of Foreign Affairs yesterday confirmed that the Japanese government recently filed a request with Taiwan through the Interchange Association to agree to its plan to rezone its ADIZ, which Tokyo says is necessary to ensure it has control over its own airspace.
Japan’s ADIZ was redrawn by the US military after the end of World War II.
KMT Legislator Chang Hsien-yao (張顯耀) called on government agencies to stand strong and refuse to agree to the Japanese proposal, which he said could impact national security.
“[The boundary] is only 110km from Taiwan. The close distance means that Taiwan will have air defense and security problems. Why must Taiwan give way to Japan?” Chang said during a meeting of the legislature’s Foreign and National Defense Committee.
Chang also expressed concern that the Japanese want to station troops on Yonaguni in response to a growing Chinese threat.
KMT Legislator Lin Yu-fang (林郁方) said Taiwan should not give in to the Japanese demands, saying the issue could be used as a bargaining chip for the Diaoyutai (釣魚台) islands — which both Taiwan and Japan claim.
Deputy Minister of National Defense Chao Shih-chang (趙世璋) told lawmakers the military was still studying the issue to ensure that it would not compromise Taiwan’s interests.
“We are studying its impact on our air defense. Of course, we will [also] take into account its effect on our national interests,” he said.
At a separate setting, MOFA deputy spokesman James Chang (章計平) said the ministry was deliberating the matter with the defense ministry and the Ministry of Transportation and Communications.
Chang refused to comment on the possible impact of the plan, saying that “various aspects are under deliberation.”
He also declined to comment on whether Japan’s plan was tenable in terms of international laws that define ADIZs.
“The [current] ADIZ was designated by the US military after the end of World War II,” he said. “The east of the line is managed by Japan, while the west of the line is governed by Taiwan. That is a reality that has existed for years.”
ADDITIONAL REPORTING BY CNA
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