Shinzo Abe has urged China to ditch new measures to restrict flights over disputed territory in the East China Sea, even as Japan’s biggest commercial airlines said they were already complying with the rules set out on Saturday by Beijing.
Speaking in parliament yesterday, the Japanese prime minister said China’s unilateral declaration of an “air defence identification zone”, which overlaps with one already operated by Japan, was an “unenforceable” action with “no validity whatsoever to Japan”.
However, that position appeared to be undermined by a swift compliance with Beijing’s policy by Japan Airlines and All Nippon Airways, the country’s largest long-haul carriers, which operate dozens of flights daily through affected areas.