While Tokyo continues to play the thief crying "stop the thief", Washington is again barking up the wrong tree over China's announcement of the East China Sea Air Defense Identification Zone.

The Japanese and US hysteria is unnecessary, and potentially dangerous, because it is based on a serious misreading, if not intentional distortion, of Chinese strategic purposes.

Dozens of countries, including Japan and the United States, have their own ADIZs. And the US, as the inventor of such zones, should be well aware of their defensive nature.