Beijing may step up drills in South China Sea amid rising tensions with US military, analysts say
- Chinese air force and navy simulated face-to-face encounters with invading aircraft and warships in latest exercises
- They took place the same day a US destroyer carried out a freedom of navigation patrol in the contested waters
China’s air force and navy are keeping a close watch on US freedom of navigation patrols in the South China Sea, and military experts expect sabre-rattling over the disputed waters to intensify.
The latest were joint exercises by its air force and navy that simulated face-to-face encounters with invading foreign aircraft and warships in the South China Sea on March 10, according to the official PLA Daily.
The drills included searches of unidentified foreign aircraft with the help of surface vessels, and driving enemy planes out of China’s airspace – even “shooting them down with missiles to stop them from attacking Chinese warships”, the report said.
Those exercises took place the same day guided-missile destroyer the USS McCampbell was conducting a freedom of navigation operation – the second by the US Navy this year – near the contested Paracel Islands, according to a statement from the US Seventh Fleet. The islands and reefs are controlled by China but also claimed by Vietnam.