Japan: no change to airlines' notification policy when flying in East China Sea zone

TOKYO (Reuters) - Japanese Chief Cabinet Secretary Yoshihide Suga said on Monday there was no change to Japan's policy of not notifying Chinese authorities when its commercial aircraft fly through China's new air defense identification zone. Asked if the government planned to alter its earlier request to domestic air carriers that they not notify China of their flight plans, Suga said, "Our stance won't be changed." Japan's top air carriers, Japan Airlines and ANA, earlier told Reuters they have made no change to their plans of not notifying China of their flight plans for aircraft flying through the zone. (Reporting by Kiyoshi Takenaka, Tim Kelly, Kentaro Sugiyama; Editing by Chang-Ran Kim)