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A PLA Air Force pilot prepares for a training mission in an aircraft believed to be an H-6K bomber. Photo: SCMP Pictures

China sends bombers on long-range test near Japan amid tensions over South China Sea

PLA Air Force spokesman says first flights of bombers south of Okinawa 'routine'

China's air force sent a group of strategic bombers through the Miyako Strait south of Okinawa in a long-range drill for the first time yesterday as part of military exercises in the western Pacific.

The manoeuvre came as US-based CNN reported that the Chinese navy repeatedly warned a US surveillance plane to leave airspace over artificial islands that Beijing is building in the disputed South China Sea.

CNN reported that on Wednesday a Chinese navy dispatcher demanded eight times that a US Air Force P8-A Poseidon surveillance aircraft leave the area as it flew over Fiery Cross Reef, where China has conducted extensive reclamation work. The exercise and the warnings underscore growing tensions between the armed forces of China and the United States, and China's neighbours.

PLA Air Force spokesman Colonel Shen Jinke said in a statement on website that the bombers flew over the strait in a routine drill that was part of a blue-water training exercise.

Shen said the drill was not aimed at any country, region or target, and similar exercises could be conducted in future.

"The training flight path was within international airspace. It didn't affect international flights because the bombers avoided the main civilian flight altitudes," Shen was quoted as saying.

He did not specify the type of aircraft involved in the drill but Japan's defence ministry said it scrambled fighter jets against two Chinese H-6 bombers that flew over those waters. There was no entry into Japan's airspace, Japan's defence ministry said.

In late March, the PLA Air Force also conducted its first drill over the western Pacific Ocean, sending aircraft through the Bashi Channel between Taiwan and the Philippines as part of China's plan to boost capacity in far-seas operations.

Beijing-based naval expert Li Jie said the decision not to conduct the drill in the South China Sea indicated that Beijing had tried to prevent any appearance of a tit-for-tat response to the sortie by the Poseidon aircraft.

"China should give some response to the US aircraft's provocative move in the South China Sea," he said. "But it was wise to do the drill over the Miyako Strait, the main route to the western Pacific for Chinese military and civilian vessels, in order to prevent any direct confrontation with the US forces."

Shanghai-based military expert Ni Lexiong said the PLA's quick response to the US plane could signal that the Chinese military had come up with several scenarios in case the US accelerated its "provocative moves" in the Spratly Islands, where China has at least six ongoing land reclamation projects.

"China doesn't want to stir up the island dispute in the South China Sea because it might hinder progress in the ongoing construction projects," Ni said.

This article appeared in the South China Morning Post print edition as: China puts bombers to long-range test
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