A GUIDE TO THE SOUTH CHINA SEA ADIZ

A Sword of Damocles and an “Orange Line”

Ever since China set up its first “air defense identification zone” (ADIZ) in the East China Sea in November 2013, a Chinese ADIZ has hung as a sword of Damocles over the South China Sea. The same day as China’s Ministry of Defense announced the establishment of the East China Sea ADIZ, the ministry’s spokesman proclaimed, “China will establish other  air  defense  identification zones  at  an appropriate time after completing preparations.”1 Since then, official statements by both China’s Ministry of Defense and Ministry of Foreign Affairs have never ruled out the possibility of a South China Sea ADIZ, saying  consistently  that  setting  up  such  as ADIZ  is  the  right  of  China  as  a  sovereign state.2    Adding  to  this  suggestion,  sources close to the Chinese military occasionally told foreign journalists that China had plans and was  ready  to  impose  an  ADIZ  in the  South China Sea.3 In early 2016, Navy Senior Colonel

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