US Vice President visits Asia to calm military tensions with China

U.S. Vice President Joe Biden will seek a delicate balance between calming military tensions with China and backing ally Japan against Beijing on a trip to Asia this week that is being overshadowed by a territorial row in the East China Sea.

Japan reiterated Monday that Tokyo and Washington had both rejected Beijing’s move to set up an air defense zone that includes islands at the heart of a bitter Sino-Japanese feud – despite the fact that three U.S. airlines, acting on government advice, are notifying China of plans to transit the zone.

Washington said over the weekend this did not mean the U.S. accepted the zone and last week sent two B-52 bombers into the area without informing China.

“The U.S. government has made it clear that it is deeply concerned about China’s establishment of the air defense identification zone and that it will not accept China’s demands regarding operations in the zone,” Japanese Chief Cabinet Secretary Yoshihide Suga told a news conference.