According to an article published today on the Wall Street Journal,"Based on our evaluations, there was no Chinese fighter jet that came into close proximity of our planes. We did not experience anything unusual," Japanese defense minister Itsunori Onodera said in an interview with national broadcaster NHK on Sunday. Beijing said Friday it had dispatched fighter jets to monitor the area after theU.S.said their jets had entere in defiance of China's demands for notification.
Meanwhile, Tokyo officials played down publicly—but complained privately—that the U.S. isn't standing firmly with Japan on banning airlines from complying with the Chinese demand to file flight plans.
The State Department on Friday said that it "generally expects" carriers to operate consistent with notices such as the one put out by China about the establishment of the new zone.
Japan has instructed its airlines not to comply with Beijing's flight-plan demands.
"I was taken aback when I heard this," Yukio Okamoto, a former senior foreign ministry official, said in an interview Sunday with NHK. "I can't think of any case like this in the past where the U.S. took a step that hurt Japan's interests over an issue related directly to Japan's national security in a way visible to the whole world."
"We have confirmed through diplomatic channels that the U.S. government didn't request commercial carriers to submit flight plans," Prime Minister Shinzo Abe said Sunday
As officials fear the rising risks of unintended collisions, and with bilateral diplomatic channels with China barely functioning, Japan has quickly filed a complaint about the new air zone to the International Civil Aviation Organization, a United Nations agency that watches civil aviation.
At his meeting with the vice president scheduled for Tuesday, Mr. Abe will press the U.S. to stand firm against China's unilateral attempt to establish its claim over the disputed islands. Together the two allies are also likely to push Beijing to join in efforts to establish an emergency mechanism to avoid unintended clashes or deal with them should they occur.
