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In another sign of rising tensions in Asian waters, South Korea declared a larger 鈥渁ir defense identification zone鈥� (ADIZ)聽on Sunday, challenging China鈥檚 claim to a submerged rocky shoal that Korea controls and which lies southwest of the Korean Peninsula.

South Korea鈥檚 expansion of its existing zone appeared to be a direct dividend of Vice President Joe Biden鈥檚 two-day visit that ended聽Saturday during which he discussed the topic with South Korean President Park Geun-hye. The decision raised the stakes in a confrontation that began two weeks ago when China聽declared an expanded ADIZ over contested waters that include a cluster of Japanese-run islands also claimed by China. 聽 聽 聽 聽 聽 聽

Mr. Biden, who visited Beijing before arriving in Seoul, was unable to persuade Chinese President Xi Jinping to back down from China鈥檚 demand that civilian and military aircraft flying through China鈥檚 new zone identify themselves in advance. The concern is that China, Japan and South Korea have聽all put down overlapping air-zone markers on their respective maps, ratcheting up the risk of escalation into an armed clash in the region.

Gordon Flake, executive director of the Mansfield Foundation in Washington, describes the South Korean decision as 鈥渘ot helpful.鈥� South Korea,聽he says,聽鈥渋s doing exactly what the Chinese did鈥� by using an ADIZ to assert its position in a power struggle.

鈥淭he ADIZ were never supposed to be based on territory,鈥� says Mr. Flake, a veteran analyst of Korean affairs. 鈥淭hey were relatively benign safety things. They did not have territorial significance.鈥�

That definition changed, though, with China鈥檚 Nov. 23 assertion of an ADIZ that Japan and South Korea say is illegal.聽Biden bluntly criticized the zone on his visit, which had been planned in advance of China鈥檚 declaration.

鈥淲e do not recognize such a zone,鈥� Biden told an audience at Yonsei University in Seoul. He raised the fear of a regional war if China pursued an aggressive policy in waters around its periphery from the East Sea to the South China Sea, which it claims as its own. 鈥淭he possibility of miscalculation, of a mistake, is real,鈥� he said. There should be 鈥渘o intimidation, no coercion,鈥� he added, but rather 鈥渁 commitment to reduce the danger of miscalculation.鈥�

Korean officials have tried to play down their countermove. Jang Hyuk, a defense ministry policy official, said in a televised briefing that the decision would 鈥渘ot significantly impact our relationships with China and with Japan as we try to work for peace and cooperation in Northeast Asia.鈥� He insisted other countries 鈥渁re in agreement that this move complies with international regulations鈥� but did not say if China held that view.聽

South Korea鈥檚 calculations involve an obscure rocky shoal聽known as Ieodo to the Koreans and Suyan Rock to the Chinese. Located 93 miles southwest of Jeju Island, and 171 miles east of China鈥檚 coast, the rocks are submerged except during severe storms. South Korea has built a helicopter port on the largest of the rocks, which China also claims as its own territory and made sure to place within China鈥檚 new ADIZ. 聽