China has reportedly dispatched warplanes to the South China Sea and the Western Pacific for combat readiness drills, the PLA Air Force has announced, just days after the US Navy exercised its ‘freedom of navigation’ in disputed waters.
The Chinese Air Force (PLAAF) has moved its H-6K bombers and Su-30 and Su-35 fighters to a number of potential war theaters in the region, sending some planes to the South China Sea and others to the area of Miyako Strait, a strategic entryway into the Western Pacific that lies close to Japan.
“In the near future, the Air Force will send different combat aircraft, including Xian H-6 [bombers] and Su-30 [fighters], which will fly over the Miyako Strait and will start joint military exercises in the western part of the Pacific Ocean,” Air Force spokesman Shen Jinke said in a statement released by the Chinese Defense Ministry.
The more exercises China practices far from its shores the better it will be positioned as “an important force for managing and controlling crises, containing war and winning battles”, the statement added.
