Amid raging disputes between China and the claimant states in the South China Sea, Washington has told Beijing that it will not recognize an exclusion zone in the disputed waters and it would view any attempts to create one as "destablizing."

US Deputy Secretary of Defense Robert Work said on Wednesday that US officials expressed concerns about China's possible declaration of an air defense identification zone (ADIZ) in the South China Sea region as it did in the East China Sea in 2013.

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The US' concerns come on the heels of an international court ruling expected to be handed down in the coming weeks on a case the Philippines filed against China over its South China Sea claims.

ADIZ

Work told the Washington Post that the US will not recognize any ADIZ China might establish in the disputed South China Sea just as it did not recognize the one established by Beijing in the East China Sea.

An Air Defense Identification Zone is an airspace over land or water in which the identification, location, and control of civilian aircraft is performed in the interest of national security.

They may extend beyond a country's territory to give the country more time to respond to possible hostile aircraft. The concept of an ADIZ is not defined in any international treaty and is not regulated by any international body.

Senkaku Islands

On November 23, 2013 China established an ADIZ in the East China Sea.

The announcement of the zone drew criticisms from most of China's East and Southeast Asian neighbors such as Japan, South Korea, Taiwan, and the Philippines, as well as from the European Union and the United States.

While ADIZ rules' focus only on covered territory which are undisputed at the time of their establishment, the East China Sea ADIZ covers the Japanese-controlled Senkaku islands and also includes Socotra Rock, which is claimed by South Korea.

Reports indicate that China's zone overlaps other countries' ADIZ in the East China Sea and imposes requirements on both civilian and military aircraft regardless of destination.

International law

"We don't believe they have a basis in international law, and we've said over and over that we will fly, sail and go wherever international law allows," Work said. "We have spoken quite plainly to our Chinese counterparts and said that we think an ADIZ would be destabilizing. We would prefer that all of the claims in the South China Sea be handled through mediation and not force or coercion."

Work made the comments days before Chinese President Xi Jinping was set to fly to Washington to attend the fourth and final nuclear security summit.

Surface-to-air missiles

The US has criticized China for raising tensions in the South China Sea region following its alleged deployment of a surface-to-air missiles in one of the disputed islands called the Woody island.

Beijing, for its part, has accused the US of militarizing the region by conducting naval and aerial patrols near the disputed islands and promoting the right of navigation. Beijing also lashed at the US for conducting multilateral war exercises with countries in the disputed waters.

Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi has said that Beijing's deployment in the South China Sea is no different from the US military deployments in Hawaii.

Tagsair defense identification zone (ADIZ), South China Sea, exclusion zone, Washington, china, international treaty, Senkaku Islands, Japan, Nuclear Security Summit