China dispatches one of its largest air force fleets ever near Okinawa in show of force to Japan
Chinese military heads out to Western Pacific for the second time this month in sabre-rattling aimed at Tokyo
China’s air force sent an unusually large fleet of fighter jets and bombers through the Miyako Strait near Japan’s Okinawa Island for exercises on Sunday, the second time it has headed to the Western Pacific this month.
Analysts said the sabre-rattling was meant as a strong message to Tokyo, after Japan’s new defence minister vowed to step up its military presence in the disputed South China Sea in joint training patrols with the United States.
More than 40 H-6K bombers, Su-30 fighters and air tankers “systematically” flew over the strait to conduct early warning, sudden assault and aerial refuelling exercises in a test of
the force’s blue-water combat capabilities, a defence ministry statement quoted air force spokesman Shen Jinke as saying.
Regular long-range drills in the Western Pacific and patrols over the East China Sea ADIZ were for the air force to safeguard China’s sovereignty, national security and peaceful development
Bombers and fighters also carried out “routine” patrols in the Air Defence Identification Zone (ADIZ) in the East China Sea on Sunday, Shen said. “Regular long-range drills in the Western Pacific and patrols over the East China Sea ADIZ were for the air force to safeguard China’s sovereignty, national security and peaceful development,” he said.