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US Vice President Joe Biden called on China and Japan to reduce tensions over China's newly established Air Defense Identification Zone (ADIZ) over the East China Sea ahead of his visit to Beijing on Wednesday.
Biden made the call during his visit to Japan, the first leg of his East Asia tour.
At a joint press conference after his meeting with Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe in Tokyo on Tuesday, Biden called for "crisis management mechanisms" and "effective channels of communication" between Japan and China to reduce the risk of tension escalation, saying that the risk of miscalculations and mistakes is "too high," the Kyodo News reported.
The AP reported that Abe and Biden confirmed that "neither country would tolerate the attempt to change the status quo by force" in the East China Sea.
At the same time, Abe appeared to try to work out a difference with Washington on whether commercial airlines entering the ADIZ should comply with China's demand to report their flight plans.
"We agreed we will not condone any action that could threaten the safety of civilian aircraft," he said.
Three US airlines, acting on US government advice, are notifying China of plans to transit the area, while the Japanese government says Japanese airlines should not do so.
According to Hong Lei, China's foreign ministry spokesperson, 55 airline companies from 22 countries and regions have been reporting their flight plans involving the ADIZ.
Before the meeting, Japanese officials had hoped that Washington and Tokyo can "agree on plans to call on Beijing to revoke the measure," according to a report on Kyodo News. However, no such agreement stemmed from Tuesday's meeting.
Niu Xinchun, a deputy director of the Institute of American Studies at the China Institutes of Contemporary International Relations, told the Global Times that the US will only back Japan on issues of common interest instead of supporting it indiscriminately.
"For example, on the issue of China's ADIZ, the US supports flights into the zone by military planes, including those from Japan, but it advised its commercial flights to submit their plans to China," he said.
Biden's call for "effective channels of communication" between Tokyo and Beijing has raised questions on whether the US leader will try to bridge the differences between the two sides during his visit to Beijing on Wednesday and Thursday.
"I will be raising these issues with great specificity when I meet with Chinese leadership the day after tomorrow," Biden told the press conference in Tokyo.
However, Shi Yinhong, director of the Center of American Studies at the Renmin University of China, told the Global Times that the US in no way is a mediator between China and Japan, because it rather leans toward Japan in its position.
"The US could play a steady role in reducing the likelihood of direct confrontation between China and Japan," Shi said, but noting the various statements on China's ADIZ given by US government departments suggested the US is leaning toward Japan strategically, and not acting as a mediator.
Asked about Biden's calls for crisis management mechanisms and communication between Beijing and Tokyo, Hong Lei told a regular press briefing that Japan should correct its mistakes and cooperate with China on securing the safety and order of airspace over the East China Sea.
"On one hand, Japan says the door for dialogue is open, but on the other hand, it closes the door when it comes to actual dialogue. This shows their dishonesty," he said.
Meanwhile, Washington is also asking China not to set up an ADIZ in the South China Sea, where Beijing has territorial rows with Southeast Asian nations, without first consulting countries concerned, a senior official traveling with Biden told reporters, according to Kyodo.
Reuters contributed to this story