REPUBLIKA.CO.ID, BEIJING - China sent several fighter jets and an early warning aircraft into its new air defense zone over the East China Sea, state news agency Xinhua said on Friday, raising the stakes in a standoff with the United States, Japan and South Korea.

Japan and South Korea also flew military aircraft through the zone, the two countries said on Thursday, while Washington sent two unarmed B-52 bombers into the airspace earlier this week in a sign of support for its ally Japan. None of those aircraft informed China.

China last week announced that foreign aircraft passing through its new air defense zone - including passenger planes - would have to identify themselves to Chinese authorities. The zone includes the skies over islands at the heart of a territorial dispute between Japan and China.

The Chinese patrol mission, conducted on Thursday, was "a defensive measure and in line with international common practices", Xinhua cited air force spokesman Shen Jinke as saying. The aircraft, including Russian-designed Su-30 fighter jets, conducted routine patrols and monitored targets in the zone, Shen said.

"China's air force is on high alert and will take measures to deal with diverse air threats to firmly protect the security of the country's airspace," he said.

However, Defense Ministry spokesman Yang Yujun said it was "incorrect" to suggest China would shoot down aircraft which entered the zone without first identifying themselves. He did not elaborate. Japan's Chief Cabinet Secretary Yoshihide Suga said on Friday he did not know if Chinese planes were in the zone but added there was no change to Japan's sense of alertness.

Ties between China and Japan have been strained for months by the dispute over the islands in the East China Sea, called the Diaoyu by China and the Senkaku by Japan. Washington does not take a position on the sovereignty of the islands but recognizes Tokyo's administrative control and says the U.S.-Japan security pact applies to them.

Europe's top diplomat, Catherine Ashton, said the European Union is concerned about China's decision to establish the new air defense zone as well as its announcement of "emergency defense measures" if other parties do not comply. "This development heightens the risk of escalation and contributes to raising tensions in the region," Ashton said in a statement. "The EU calls on all sides to exercise caution and restraint."

China's Foreign Ministry spokesman Qin Gang criticized Ashton's remarks, saying China hoped the EU could treat the situation "objectively and rationally".

Actually, Madam Ashton should know that some European countries also have air defense identification zones," Qin said. "I don't know if this leads to tensions in the European regional situation. European countries can have air defense identification zones. Why can't China?"

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