Carl's response to my post:
David, we had Russian Bears flying near the UK and the US often during the Cold War. We didn't do much about it besides escort them and exchange photo opportunities. They weren't looked upon as provocations. Why can't the Red Chinese be held to the same standards?
A few months ago here in the UK there was a story that Russian aircraft, IIRC 'Bears' again, had entered UK territorial airspace, along with lurid headlines, but on closer reading the planes had entered the UK air defence identification zone (ADIZ) which extends a long way beyond UK territory. Nowhere did the reporting state how close the planes had been to actual UK territory / jurisdiction.

What is normal and accepted can at times change rapidly without warning.

So for example if P3 Orion's are on missions near China first I'd ask what is the gain -v- loss; then I'd impose different rules, notably extending the distance from Chinese legal jurisdiction (I'm not aware whether PRC claims a 12 mile territorial limit, the UK IIRC only claims 3 miles).

Only towards the end of the 'Cold War' in Europe was there enough trust and confidence, with verification, between NATO and the Warsaw Pact so we understood each other. Long time since I read the Confidence Building Measures (CBM) literature; this might help:http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Treaty_...rces_in_Europe

I don't know whether there is an agreement, let alone institutions and practices, between the USA, PRC and others in the region.