The Legal Basis of the People’s Republic of China’s East China Sea Air Defense Identification Zone

• Main Author: Ching Chang
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Published: National Sun Yat-sen University 2016-04-01
• Series: Contemporary Chinese Political Economy and Strategic Relations: An International Journal
• Subjects: air defense identification zone; territorial airspace; flight information region; sovereignty claim
• Online Access: http://rpb115.nsysu.edu.tw/var/file/131/1131/img/2375/CCPS2(1)-Chang.pdf

As the People’s Republic of China defined its East China Sea Air Defense Identification Zone (ADIZ) on November 23, 2013, there were three legal decrees, the Law of the People’s Republic of China on National Defense established on March 14, 1997, the Law of the People’s Republic of China on Civil Aviation established on October 30, 1995, and the Basic Rules on Flight of the People’s Republic of China established on July 27, 2001, which have been quoted as the legal basis to define the airspace within the area enclosed by China’s outer limit of the territorial sea and another six geographical points specified by the statement as the PRC East China Sea ADIZ. Following the government statement, another announcement of the aircraft identification rules for the East China Sea Air Defense Identification Zone of the People’s Republic of China was immediately issued by the PRC Ministry of National Defense. The purpose of this paper is to explore various key legal issues to ascertain the legal basis of this East China Sea ADIZ. Besides, the paper will further compare the air defense identification zone with airspaces such as aerodrome flight airspace, airway, air route, prohibited area, restricted area and danger area as well as air corridor, fuel dumping area and temporary flight airspace defined by the previously mentioned PRC legal decrees in order to identify their differences and similarities. It may also be assessed by the factual consequences after establishing the air defense identification zone to decide whether treating the measures of defining air defense identification as the attempt of claiming sovereignty, expanding sovereign territory or sphere of influence, enlarging air defense region, increasing the coverage of air military activities or even using it to present national strength and establishing pride or to test the responses of other states around the disputed territories is eventually reasonable judgments or overstated speculations. This article will be concluded with a brief discussion on the matter of defining an air defense identification, and as with no international law to be the legal basis whether it may still need to adopt any domestic law as its legal basis.