US warns China against over South China Sea

The United States of America (USA) warned China against any move to declare a new Air Defense Identification Zone (ADIZ) over the South China Sea including disputed islands. The comments were made after the reports of Japanese media that stated that China is preparing to announce another defense zone in the area, which are driven by territorial disputes with the neighboring countries.

• China claims the South China Sea in its entirety, while other countries surrounding the sea also have claims to the area and are in dispute with China.

At present, China’s new air defense zone over the East China Sea is creating tensions in the world’s most geo-politically sensitive areas that includes the disputed Diaoyu or Senkaku islands in the East China Sea, which are controlled by Japan and but claimed by China, and the submerged Leodo reef, which is under South Korea’s control.

BRIEF ABOUT SOUTH CHINA SEA:

The South China Sea is a marginal sea that is part of the Pacific Ocean, encompassing an area from the Singapore and Malacca Straits to the Strait of Taiwan of around 3,500,000 square kilometres (1,400,000 sq mi). The area's importance largely results from one-third of the world's shipping transiting through its waters, and that it is believed to hold huge oil and gas reserves beneath its seabed.

It is located

• south of mainland China and the island of Taiwan,
• west of the Philippines,
• north west of Sabah (Malaysia), Sarawak (Malaysia) and Brunei,
• north of Indonesia,
• north east of the Malay peninsula (Malaysia) and Singapore, and
• east of Vietnam.