Although new here, there’s a few things I want to mention after reading through all these posts in this thread. I’m Chinese so this may be biased, but I’m still going to say it anyway. At least this will provide you with some idea of how some of the Chinese people think about this whole ADIZ thing.
I want to start off by saying that I wholeheartedly support this act and I feel it brings about many great things (from my perspective of course). Some has already been mentioned so I won’t repeat.
First and foremost, this will provide a rare and precious training opportunity for the PLAAF and PLANAF. Some may have noticed that it is not until recent years (2010-2011 onwards) that J10s have started to enter service with the PLANAF. With new aircrafts, new training is needed and this ADIZ will be a great training field. You’re never going to know when and what will be coming into the zone, or what kind of actions will be undertaken by intruders. The pilots have to learn to deal with all kinds scenarios and learn to intercept some of the best aircrafts operated by some of the best trained pilots in the world. This will be great chance for our forces.
Secondly, it greatly boosts national pride and confidence. For a very long time the Chinese people felt uncomfortable with the fact the Japan has an ADIZ and it’s so near China and we had none to counter. Now we have one, at least it’s a fairer game now, which is great.
Lastly (though this is a little bit off topic) I want to say, as a Chinese I have full confidence that time is on our side. Undeniable fact is that Japan’s F15Js are old and aging, F2s are lacking in numbers, and its economy has been stagnating for decades. I think people in this forum are familiar with Chinese military development in recent years, it will be redundant to repeat. We do have shortcomings, e.g. engines, trainings maybe, large tankers, etc. But 30 years ago when Japan first got her F15Js in the early 1980s, we don’t even have an aircraft that has a proper fire-control radar, even J7s are rare. Heck, we flew thousands of those J6s which is like toys in front of Japan’s mighty F15J. The situation is similar for the Navy. Look where we are today? I’m young and healthy, and I’ll wait patiently for another 30 years. Actually even 100 years is nothing, the Diaoyu islands are separated for more than 100 years already. In a larger picture, 100 years is also just a tiny fraction of thousands of years of Chinese civilisation.
I’ll wait.