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Coronavirus: US-China military tensions remain high despite epidemic
- Beijing responds to US freedom of navigation operations in East and South China seas by staging its largest live-fire naval exercise in two years
- But defence ministry says it will scale back military drills as PLA troops are deployed to help fight the deadly disease
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China’s air force and navy have raised their combat-readiness level since the Lunar New Year in response to increased freedom of navigation exercises by US forces in the East and South China seas, according to official media.
Pilots from the Eastern and Southern theatre commands have been forced to cancel their holidays and engaged in repeated patrol flights on the country’s defensive front line, PLA Daily reported.
The heightened activity comes despite the People’s Liberation Army (PLA) having deployed thousands of military detachments to support the efforts to combat the coronavirus outbreak in the central China city of Wuhan.
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This week, a six-ship flotilla from the PLA’s South Sea Fleet returned to base in Sansha, Hainan province, after completing a 41-day live-fire exercise in the Western Pacific Ocean. The exercise was the longest and largest of its kind for two years, with the fleet travelling more than 14,000 nautical miles over the course of the six weeks.
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On the return voyage, the Type 052D destroyer that led the flotilla pointed a laser at a US military patrol aircraft it spotted flying over the western Pacific, according to a report by the US Navy, which described the incident in a statement on its website on Friday as “unsafe and unprofessional”.
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