U.S. Fliers Defy China's Air Defense Identification Zone; Massive Storm Causes Flight Delays Ahead of Thanksgiving in U.S.
PAULINE CHIOU, HOST: I'm Pauline Chiou in Hong Kong. Welcome to News Stream where news and technology meet. Message to Beijing, the U.S. sends unarmed military planes into China's newly declared air defense zone. Plus, protesters in Thailand try to keep he pressure on the prime minister. Demonstrators target more government buildings. And the fight against human trafficking, why it's become an increasingly high tech struggle. Escalating tensions with an apparent act of defiance by the U.S. following China's declaration of a new air defense identification zone over a large part of the East China Sea. The U.S. and Japan are both criticizing the move. And to underscore that, the U.S. flew two unarmed bombers through the air space, ignoring China's demands that the planes identify themselves and submit flight plans to Chinese authorities. We'll have more on that later, but first why the new zone is stirring up old tensions. CNN's David McKenzie is live in Beijing with more. David, what has China said about the U.S. ignoring this zone and sending those jets over?</s>DAVID MCKENZIE, CNN INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Well, basically China is saying we're watching you. They say that the unilaterally declared air defense identification zone was in place, that it was working. The defense ministry has reached out to us and others here in Beijing saying that they were aware of the planes, that they could identify who owned the planes and they gave pretty detailed accounts of where they went and how long they're in the disputed zones. So, really China is ratcheting up the pressure saying that this is all part of their sovereign right to defend their country. Listen to the ministry of foreign affairs.</s>QIN GANG, CHINESE FOREIGN MINISTRY SPOKESMAN (through translator): China's imposition of the East China Sea air defense identification zone is exercising our legitimate self-defense rights. We have notified relevant countries and relevant issues before making the announcement. We are willing to work together with relevant countries to strengthen communication in order to maintain regional peace, stability and flight safety.</s>MCKENZIE: Well, the issue there is that China is saying it can act in its own defense and points out that other countries, like the U.S. have similar zones around its territorial waters, though analysts, Pauline, do say that this is -- it might be less necessarily about it's own self- defense and more about stamping its authority on the region. Of course, inside this zone are the -- according to the way Chinese say it -- the Diaoyu Islands, which it says are part of its territory. That's, of course, disputed. Japan calls them the Senkoku Islands and they say that is their territory. So certainly it could lead to potential dangerous situation here in east Asia.</s>CHIOU: Now, David, if it is partly about those Diaoyu Islands, which is what China calls it -- and Senkoku, which is what Japan calls it -- are they really that valuable? Because some of these islands are just barren rock.</s>MCKENZIE: Well, the islands are barren rock, but there are two things that make these important. One is national pride, of course. Japan and China have a long troubled history and both countries lay claim to those islands for some time. It all kicked off most recently late last year when Japan bought the islands from private owners and said that they would administer them. The U.S. has generally kept out of this issue, though of course the U.S. is a very key military ally to Japan. And it's called China's move unhelpful saying that it potentially could be a dangerous situation. Also, the newly minted U.S. ambassador to Japan, Caroline Kennedy, weighed in on this issue. Let's take a listen.</s>CAROLINE KENNEDY, U.S. AMBASSADOR TO JAPAN: As Winston Churchill said, we arm to parlay. In dangerous times, the United States has always stood for the principle that disputes should be resolved through diplomacy and dialogue. And we are ready to assist this process in every way we can. As Secretary Kerry said last weekend, we hope to see a more collaborative and less confrontational future in the Pacific, unilateral actions like those taken by China with their announcement of an East China Sea air defense identification zone undermines security and constitute an attempt to change the status quo in the East China Sea. This only serves to increase tensions in the region.</s>MCKENZIE: Well, certainly the U.S., China and Japan probably don't want any kind of military confrontation, but the worry is this could lead to some kind of accidental confrontation. There are already many times that the Japanese scrambled their F-15 jets to the disputed areas to meet Chinese military planes. And now with China laying claim to this area as part of its own defense strategy, certainly the worry is it could lead to some kind of mistake that could pull the three super powers as it were when it comes to economies and the super powers of this region into some kind of issue. So, certainly worrying times in the East China Sea.</s>CHIOU: Right. And there are economic repercussions with the three being major trading partners. Now, David, both Japan and the U.S. have their own air defense identification zones. So why are they objecting to China setting up their own?</s>MCKENZIE: Well, it's not so much the zone itself that I think is an issue here. Many people do -- many countries do have these zones, Pauline. The issue here is that Japan and China's zones overlap in this case and that both lay claim to territory which the other says is nothing to do with the other. So really it's more about the diplomacy than about the issue of self-defense. These islands, these rocks in the sea as you describe them, uninhabited kind of specks of land out in the ocean, but the possibility is there for strong natural resources, fine, that puts the economic angle even more directly into play here. But that could be only many years into the future. It's really also about China expanding its military muscle in the region. Xi Jinping, the president here, has certainly taken control of the military, unlike his predecessor did in his early days in office. So it's as much about China also trying to put itself into the world stage from a military standpoint. And though China's military assets at this point cannot match the U.S.-Japan alliance, it is all about this brinkmanship, though again it's a dangerous game indeed.</s>CHIOU: OK, David, thank you very much for putting it into perspective from both China's side as well as Japan's side. Well, China's air defense identification zone also covers a South Korean ocean research center on a wreath in the Yellow Sea. Defense officials from both countries are expected to discuss this overlap later on this week, but South Korea's defense ministry spokesman has said the government will fly over the area without informing China. And Australia summoned the Chinese ambassador on Tuesday over this very issue. In a statement foreign minister Julie Bishop said Australia has made clear its opposition to any coercive or unilateral actions to change the status quo in the East China Sea. Now the United States sees this as much more than a territorial dispute between China and Japan. CNN's Barbara Starr joins us now live from Washington to give us the perspective from the U.S. Now Barbara, what exactly is the message the U.S. was sending by flying these B-52s all the way over from its base in Guam?</s>BARBARA STARR, CNN PENTAGON CORRESPONDENT: Well, Pauline, I think the U.S. military, the U.S. administration was basically saying we're going to do it. You know, you can put your restrictions up there, but we are not going to change the way the United States military operates at any point just because China says so. So that means they flew through the zone, essentially, with these two B-52 bombers, not identifying themselves, not filing a flight plan, not declaring their transponders, none of the measures that China wanted. Look, the reality is everybody knows China can track airplanes and the U.S. military would have tracked the B-52s through radar and kept a very careful watch from a distance to see if China was launching any airplanes to come after them. Everybody watches everybody else out there. So, nobody was really looking for a military confrontation, per se, but this is really message sending on all parts by all parties. The concern, as David McKenzie just said, is that this not get out of control and there not be some kind of incident that nobody wants to see happen -- Pauline.</s>CHIOU: Yeah, and also from the U.S.'s point of view, Barbara, is this more about not just sending a strong message, but really sending a message standing with its ally that it's supporting Japan, or is the U.S. making a broader statement that the Obama administration really is serious about making this pivot to Asia?</s>STARR: Well, I think it's actually probably a bit of both. Japan is one of the U.S.'s closest allies in the Asia-Pacific region. And this clearly was an effort to make sure that China understood that that alliance with Japan, that military alliance remains very strong and unshakable. But there is this so-called Asia pivot by the United State military, more focus on Asia, more focus on the U.S. military presence in that region, for the simple reason that China is trying to extend its military muscle and the U.S. wants to be there to support its Asian allies. As David was talking about, this is the economic powerhouse region. So any military destabilization has real potential economic consequences and that's one of the reasons the U.S. is pressing for stability and a bit of calmness about all of this -- Pauline.</s>CHIOU: OK, great perspective as always. Thank you very much Barbara Starr there live from the Pentagon. Now, if you have questions about the controversial air zone that we've been talking about, we do have some answers on our website. You can also learn more about disputed islands in the East and South China Seas. Most are uninhabited rocks, but the area could be rich in natural gas and also oil. You can find out more at CNN.com. Some news is coming into us from Latvia. The prime minister there Valdis Dombrovskis has resigned, this comes in the wake of that deadly supermarket collapse in the capital of Riga last Thursday. 51 people were killed when the roof of that building caved in. It was the deadliest accident in the country since it became independent from the Soviet Union in 1991. You're watching News Stream. And just ahead this hour, angry protesters in Thailand surround more government buildings. We'll have the latest the push to unseat the Thai prime minister. In Syria, the situation is increasingly grave for children. Authorities are now rushing to stop the spread of polio. And a special report from CNN's Freedom Project. We'll tell you how criminals are using technology for human trafficking. Stay with us.