Declaring, Invading, and Defending Air Space

THE LATEST INFORMATION is that the two American B52 bombers which willfully invaded Chinese air space a couple of days ago were accompanied, after all, by a squadron of Chinese fighter planes. This had not been reported at first. Everybody is mum about how close the Chinese fighters got to the American bombers, how long they kept pace, and so forth. For all we know, they engaged in a dogfight, and the B52s, unarmed, were shot out of the sky. We hope not, but stranger things have happened. And so now it looks as if the fun is just beginning. If China wants some uninhabited islands, so what? Nobody else seems to be using them! First, the United States asserts that increasing China's declared air space is "provocative". Then, the U.S. proceeds to take a provocative action, proving that China's air space enhancement was indeed provocative. Too funny, almost. Knowing the United States, it has no intention of refraining from further intrusions in Chinese air space. Nobody ever accused the U.S.A. of passing up a good conflict, or foregoing some good international drama. We simply must make our point, mustn't we? It isn't enough to simply say: "we do not agree with or accept your newly expanded definition of your national airspace." Oh no. We Americans have to prove our point. IN truth, however, China, Japan, and South Korea all claim airspace which extends rather far from their own shores. Almost, you might think, a bit too far. What about everybody cutting back a bit, and declaring the majority of the world's air space "international" and free access? By the way, how far up does national airspace extend? Surely there is an official United Nations rule regarding this. National air space can only extend so high, otherwise orbiting satellites and space stations would all be violating somebody's air space, every day.