Tensions mount off the Chinese coast .Update

USS George Washington, East China Sea (CNN) -- The deafening roar of state-of-the-art warplanes being catapulted into the air from its huge flight deck signaled that the USS George Washington was back in combat mode after its recent detour to the Philippines to take part in the aid effort in the wake of Super Typhoon Haiyan.

Barely a week on and the 90,000-ton Nimitz-class aircraft carrier is now patrolling waters off the island of Okinawa as part a huge naval exercise -- AnnualEx 2013 -- involving dozens of warships, submarines and aircraft from the U.S. Navy's 7th fleet and the Japan Maritime Self-Defense Force (JMSDF).

After Beijing upset the region by declaring a new air defense zone over a large part of the East China Sea, two unarmed U.S. B-52 bombers flew through the area in what the U.S. State Department said was a planned military exercise.

The U.S. aircraft ignored China's new demands that planes that fly through the zone identify themselves and submit flight plans to Chinese authorities -- despite Beijing's warnings that it could take military measures against aircraft that failed to comply.

video and article -

http://www.cnn.com/2013/11/27/world/asia/china-japan-us-tensions/index.html

On Friday morning, for instance, China scrambled fighter jets after U.S. and Japanese military aircraft entered its disputed air defense zone, according to a Chinese military official.

Col. Shen Jinke, a Chinese air force spokesman, said in Beijing that the two U.S. and 10 Japanese aircraft were monitoring targets in the zone. He said the Chinese air force and navy were identifying and monitoring all foreign warplanes in the zone.

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A U.S. military official told CNN that at least one U.S. unarmed military aircraft and several Japanese military aircraft flew through the zone Friday without incident. The official said the U.S. flight was part of scheduled routine operations.

http://www.cnn.com/2013/11/29/world/asia/china-japan-us-tensions/index.html?hpt=hp_c2

It certainly is irrelevant whether for the U.S. these  are routine military operations. The arrival of Chinese fighter jets are not. There are aircraft carriers, destroyers, and warplanes clustered around several islands and one collision or mishap could trigger a response which would pull then into a conflict.

What would happen if one jet or ship  thought they were under attack?

Tensions remain high over a few small islands and a high concentration of state-of-the art military firepower.

Medclinician

Tensions between China and Japan, at their worst in half a century, are making conflict “much more likely now than it’s probably been in years,” the former top U.S. State Department official for East Asia told CNN’s Christiane Amanpour.

If a conflict were to break out, Kurt Campbell said, it would likely be a “small skirmish, probably easily contained.”

But the larger context, of "what is really the two great countries of Asia, China and Japan" is hard to ignore.

"Tensions between the two countries are greater now than they've been probably in a half century."

http://www.cnn.com/2013/12/04/world/asia/china-us-japan-tensions/index.html?hpt=wo_c2

(CNN) -- In public remarks that betrayed no hint of the tension between the United States and China over airspace above the East China Sea, China's leader welcomed U.S. Vice President Joe Biden to Beijing on Wednesday, calling the former senator an "old friend" and praising U.S.-China relations.

Biden also made no public mention of the controversial Chinese air defense space declaration, instead focusing on the possibilities of good relations between the two nations.

Comment: The fact no attempt was made whatsoever by Biden to resolve the issue as he met with
Chinese President Xi Jinping,  highlights what is becoming typical in U.S. foreign policy to evade and not deal with real issues. There is a great deal of handshaking, smiles, and yet no real substance in terms of focusing and solving the problem.

The situation remains dangerous and there is no clear mention of any deal or the budging of either side to resolve the potential conflict.

Medclinician

TOKYO - Three Chinese ships sailed through disputed waters off Tokyo-controlled islands in the East China Sea on Sunday, the Japanese coast guard said, the first time since Beijing announced an Air Defense Identification Zone over the sea.

The vessels entered the 12-nautical-mile territorial waters at about 9:00 a.m. (0000 GMT) off one of the Senkaku islands, which China also claims and calls the Diaoyus, the Japan Coast Guard said.

This is the first time that Chinese coast guard ships were spotted sailing through the waters after Beijing raised regional tensions with its declaration of the air zone on November 23.