Taiwan's new defense minister categorically said on Monday that Taiwan would not acknowledge any Air Defense Identification Zone (ADIZ) declared by China over the disputed South China Sea region, adding that such a move will prove to be a deterrent for maintaining peace in the region.

"We will not recognize any ADIZ by China," Taiwan Defence Minister Feng Shih-kuan told the Taiwanese parliament.

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In a separate event, Taiwan's National Security Bureau tabled a security report to the country's parliament warning that China's ADIZ may unleash a new wave of tension in the region.

"In the future, we don't rule out China designating an ADIZ. If China is on track to announce this, it could usher in a new wave of tension in the region," the report said.          

The controversy over ADIZ started after US officials expressed concerns that a judgment expected by the Permanent Court of Arbitration in Hague in the coming weeks may compel China to declare an ADIZ over the South China Sea, just as it did over the East China Sea in 2013.

In response, China has neither confirmed nor rejected its plan to declare an air defense zone over the disputed maritime territory. Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesman Hong Lei said that Beijing's plan to declare ADIZ would depend on various factors including the existing threat level it faces in its aerial territory.

China's ADIZ plan may figure in the U.S.-China Strategic and Economic Dialogue, a high-profile bilateral annual summit that started in Beijing on Monday. US Secretary of State John Kerry, who is currently in Beijing to attend the summit, has described China's actions in the South China Sea as "provocative and destabilizing."

TagsTaiwan, South China Sea, air Defense zone, China ADIZ, china