Defense Secretary Delfin Lorenzana supports a recent statement of the United States Pacific Air Force chief who warned that China's plan to establish air defense zone (ADIZ) in South China Sea would disrupt the international rules-based order.

"Yes, I agree. First, China would arrogate unto itself a vast sea considered to be a global commons that has been opened for millennia to all for navigation and finishing," Lorenzana said on Thursday.

"Second, an ADIZ by China violates the exclusive economic rights of littoral states over their EEZs (exclusive economic zones) under the UNCLOS of which China was a signatory," he said

Lorenzana added that "a lot of countries will treat this ADIZ as illegal and violative of international laws."

"They would continue to use these waters and airspace and thus would further raise an already heightening tension that could result in mishaps or miscalculations", he said.

At a teleconference on Wednesday, US Pacific Air Forces Commander (PACAF), Gen. Charles Brown, Jr., said China's plan to establish the ADIZ would hamper freedom of navigation and overflights over the South China Sea.

“If the PRC ( People's Republic of China) were to claim an ADIZ in the South China Sea, it impacts all of the nations…and it actually goes against…a free and open Indo-Pacific is to fly, sail, and operate wherever international law allows,” Brown said.

Lorenzana expressed hope that China would not pursue its plan to establish an ADIZ to maintain "peace and stability" in the region.

"It is my fervent hope that China would not proceed with this planned action for the continued peace and stability in the entire South China Sea," he said. Robina Asido/DMS