Posted on 11/29/2013 5:00:54 PM PST by kristinn
After an internal debate, the Obama administration has decided to tell American commercial airlines to comply with China's demands to be notified of any flights through a broad swath of international airspace that it has claimed as an air defense zone, officials said Friday.
Even as the United States continued to send military planes into the zone in defiance of China's declaration, officials said they expected civilian planes to go along with Beijing's new demands out of an abundance of caution. Officials said they were worried about an accident or unintended confrontation that could endanger civilian passengers.
The administration’s decision came hours after China said it had scrambled fighter jets for the first time since declaring the zone last week, a move that was seen by Japan, South Korea, Taiwan and the United States as provocative.
The caution reflected in the administration’s decision contrasted with that by Japan's government, which told its civilian airlines not to abide by the Chinese rules after they initially began to voluntarily comply.
China’s assertion of jurisdiction over the airspace, designed to bolster its claim to islands administered by Japan, is not recognized by any of the major powers in the region but the American decision may irritate Tokyo.
Earlier Friday, in announcing it had scrambled jets, China said it had identified two American surveillance planes and 10 Japanese aircraft in its newly declared air defense zone
(Excerpt) Read more at nytimes.com ...
The take-off from the Xichang Satellite Launch Centre in Sichuan Province marks the latest stage in China’s grand ambitions not just to put a man on Moon by the end of the next decade, but to build a permanent lunar base from which it can plan missions to Mars and beyond.
While the United States scales back its grand ideals of re-conquering the Moon, China is forging ahead with a bold three-step programme beginning with the robotic exploration of possible landing sites for the first Chinese astronauts to set foot on lunar soil between 2025 and 2030.
“This launch fits in perfectly with China’s logical development of its capabilities in space,” said science writer and astrophysicist David Whitehouse...
“It is sending astronauts into space to do more complicated things each mission, and each Moon probe builds on the last. They plan to bring them together and it’s very possible the next person to walk on the Moon could be Chinese in 15 years’ time,” Dr Whitehouse said......."
The USA and Japan should use the islands for naval artillery practice. To bad they mothballed the USS Missouri, a cannon platform that could reduce these islands to shore rubble in 3 days.
I was being sarcastic.
This assertion by China is probably reflective of their observations of American weakness in other areas.
Like its ally Iran, China knows the declining USSA won’t pose much of a threat to their designs on the region.
If Caroline got one of those upbraidings, imagine her response: “We’ll, like, y’know... um... why .. y’know.. can’t you like just GIVE them those.. y’know... islands?”
Obama is trying to start a war. That worthless punk is
going to get even more people killed.
Weakness begets weakness.
Well I’m surprised it took this long for Obama to capitulate. I still think China will turn the West Coast to glass once they figure out how to do it without destroying their own economy.
OMG! How am I still capable of being shocked? This is the natural outcome of putting a foreign enemy in the White House.
Obama bows again and again. The apology tour continues with appeasement, weakness and utter dumbness.
In other words, if China shoots down a civilian airliner the US won’t do squat. It’s no surprise. That’s what happens when you borrow money. The one you borrow it from is going to tell you how to spend it.
Obama bows again.
Fearless Leader strikes again.
Then again, he has much in common with his ChiCom comrades, so why is this a surprise...
Still, it strikes me as being most unlikely that China would respond in such a ham-handed manner, thereby creating an international consensus against it.
And there is a certain inconsistency here--a mixed message ("We don't agree with your territorial claims, but we are going to act as if we do") that I find rather disturbing...
First Iran now China
China I can understand considering they own us. China stops the money flow and we’re back to the 18th century.
I think it is always a good idea for civilian airliners to ID themselves to anyone who queries them, just for the sake of safety
A nuclear armed Japan? The hell with that. China taking over Japan would be better than that.
Wow! Already surrendered! The Chi-coms know who they are dealing with.
China to bammy - “back off or what we do to your economy will make the Great Depression look like boom times.”
China holds all the cards, people.
Wow! Already surrendered! The Chi-coms know who they are dealing with.
China to bammy - “back off or what we do to your economy will make the Great Depression look like boom times.”
China holds all the cards, people.
BARACK FRUITDAY
all this for a damn fag
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.