China's Warning about Islands

There were quite a few stories about the "new" declaration by China of what territories it expects to defend, but most of them concentrated on perceptions rather than the actual way it was presented.  (See Reuters, CBS News and BBC for their articles)

The Chinese are not claiming any new territory, but they are saying they are going to make those territories part of their air defense zone.  Their web site says: 

November 23, 2013, the Chinese government issued a solemn statement announcing the designation of the East China Sea air defense identification zone. It is adapted to the development of the security situation in the country, focusing on safeguarding national sovereignty and territorial airspace security and maintaining order in the air flying legitimate move is necessary to move the country to better exercise the right of self-defense, but also in line with common practice in the world's major coastal countries.  

Non-commercial aircraft are going to be challenged in this zone, which should prove interesting to anyone flying military aircraft in this area.  It won't just be the Japanese, since a good part of the warning covers Taiwan and area adjacent to S. Korea.  These types of challenges are not new, but they are coming at a time when there are many claims being made to the potential oil in the South China Sea.  When it gets interesting, is when somebody is challenged for identification, and they ignore it.  Are the Chinese going to shoot?  They really want us to think about it.