Washington/Tokyo: Two unarmed US B-52 bombers on a training mission flew over disputed islands in the East China Sea without informing Beijing, defying China`s declaration of a new airspace defence zone and raising the stakes in a territorial standoff.
The flight did not prompt a response from China, the Pentagon said, and the White House urged Beijing to resolve its dispute with Japan over the islands diplomatically, without resorting to "threats or inflammatory language".
Also defying Beijing, Japan`s two biggest airlines - Japan Airlines and ANA Holdings - said they would stop giving flight plans and other information to Chinese authorities from Wednesday when passing through the zone. That followed a Japanese government request, the carriers said.
China published coordinates for an East China Sea Air Defence Identification Zone over the weekend and warned it would take "defensive emergency measures" against aircraft that failed to identify themselves properly in the airspace.
Japan`s aviation industry association said it had concluded there was no threat to passenger safety by ignoring the Chinese demands, JAL said. Both JAL and ANA posted notices on their websites informing its passengers of their decision.
The zone, about two thirds the size of Britain, covers the skies over islands at the heart of a territorial dispute that China has with close US ally Japan.
The B-52 bombers carried out the flight, part of a long-planned exercise, on Monday, a US military official said.
The lumbering bombers appeared to send a message that the United States was not trying to hide its intentions and showed that China, so far at least, was unable or unwilling to defend the zone.
Beijing may have been caught off-guard and could change its approach, said Dean Cheng, an analyst at the conservative Heritage Foundation, a Washington-based think tank.
"The Chinese may not have expected such a strong American reaction so soon," Cheng said.
"The fact that Washington responded and responded so strongly sends a very clear challenge back to Beijing saying: `Look, in case you were wondering, we are serious when we say we are an ally of Japan. And do not mess with that.`"
Some experts have said the Chinese move was aimed at chipping away at Tokyo`s claim to administrative control over the area, including the tiny uninhabited islands known as the Senkaku in Japan and the Diaoyu in China.
The action might have backfired, said Brad Glosserman, executive director of the Honolulu-based Pacific Forum CSIS.
"This is confirming the darker view of China in Asia," Glosserman said. "The Chinese once again are proving to be their own worst enemy ... driving the US closer to Japan and (South) Korea closer to the position of Tokyo as well."
