America vs China: Obama Blinks First

As the battle over disputed islands grows between the US/Japan and China, Barack Obama has submitted to the demands of China by telling US airlines to notify Chinese authorities if they will be flying through the disputed air space. China has taken the offensive by scrambling fighter jets to investigate any such breach of their new air defense zone, setting up the cave in by Washington as shared in the video report and story from The Guardian.

China scrambled fighter jets to investigate US and Japanese aircraft flying through its new air defence zone over the East China Sea on Friday as the regional clamour over the disputed airspace escalated.

The ministry of defence announced the move, which is the first time China is known to have sent military aircraft into the zone alongside foreign flights, stepping up its response to the challenge after its unilateral establishment of the zone. It previously said it had monitored US, Japanese and South Korean aircraft and had flown routine patrols in the area on Thursday.

The ministry's statement said two US reconnaissance aircraft and 10 Japanese early warning, reconnaissance and fighter planes had entered the zone.

Late on Friday the US state department advised American commercial airlines to notify Chinese authorities of flight plans over the East China Sea. But a US administration official said that did not mean Washington accepted Beijing's jurisdiction, the Reuters news agency reported.

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