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A Chinese air force general has warned that any foreign aircraft disobeying warnings and deemed to be "hostile" could be shot down in China's newly- established air defence identification zone (ADIZ) over airspace in the East China Sea.
"The zone provides communication and air force identification between countries, allowing them to identify whether the opposite side is hostile," National Defence University professor and PLA Air Force major general Qiao Liang said.
"But if the subject intruding into the zone disregarded any warning, our pilots have the right to shoot it down," South China Morning Post quoted Qiao as saying in an interview to the state-run China News Service.
His comments came as the US flew two of its B-52 bombers, defying the zone created by China on November 23 over disputed islands with Japan.
China calls the disputed islands Diaoyus while Japan terms them as Senkakus.
Responding to the Japanese government's protests that the new zone overlaps with theirs, Qiao said: "In reverse, we could also argue their zone is overlapping ours."
However, Qiao urged all sides to seek peaceful ways of dealing with issues regarding the ADIZ if possible.
"It would be apparently irrational to fight a war over the ADIZ. Territorial disputes like this should be resolved through negotiation," he said.
His comments evoked mixed reactions from Chinese netizens.
Many cast doubt over Qiao's claim that the Chinese military was authorised to shoot down aircraft in the ADIZ.
"The goal of the ADIZ is to establish early warnings and to contain the situation, not to intercept and shoot down enemy aircraft," the Post quoted one blogger as saying.
Another blogger questioned Qiao's authority on the issue.
"He is barely a major general. His word does not count when it comes down to the decision of whether to start a war."
Others expressed concerns whether Beijing was willing to play tough according to Qiao's remarks, saying it would be embarrassing for China if it did not respond to potential provocative acts from the US or Japan as claimed.
"I hope China's defence ministry would do more than just lodge a protest if US or Japanese aircraft indeed carry out provoking acts," a commentator said.
