Japanese airlines said Tuesday they would obey Beijing’s rules when they overfly the East China Sea, but several governments joined Tokyo in criticizing China’s latest bid to carve out a zone of control

Japanese airlines said Tuesday they would obey Beijing's rules when they overfly the East China Sea, but several governments joined Tokyo in criticizing China's latest bid to carve out a zone of control.
  
As administrations around the world began lining up against Beijing over its unilaterally-declared Air Defense Identification Zone (ADIZ), dismissing it as invalid, Japan's airlines said they would bow to China's demands.
  
All Nippon Airways (ANA) said that since Sunday it has been submitting flight plans to Chinese authorities for any plane that was due to pass through the area, which includes islands at the centre of a bitter territorial row between Tokyo and Beijing. Its affiliate Peach Aviation said it was doing the same "for now".
  
The announcements came after Japan Airlines said it was complying with rules Beijing set down at the weekend, effectively giving it control over the airspace above a swathe of the East China Sea criss-crossed by vital transport lanes.
  
Australia said Tuesday it had summoned the Chinese ambassador to convey its opinion that "the timing and the manner of China's announcement are unhelpful in light of current regional tensions, and will not contribute to regional stability".
  
"Australia has made clear its opposition to any coercive or unilateral actions to change the status quo in the East China Sea," said Foreign Minister Julie Bishop.
  
In response, China's foreign ministry said that "we hope Australia can understand correctly, and make joint efforts to maintain the security of flight in the relevant airspace."
  
Germany's government said the move "raised the risk of an armed incident between China and Japan".
  
The United States earlier came out forcefully in Tokyo's favour by affirming that the Senkakus fall under the US-Japan security treaty.