Last week after the United States warship made a passage inside China’s fake islands, Beijing immediately launched and conducted training for its naval jets in the same area as a show of force. The armed aircraft flew to China’s recently constructed island airstrip wherein they declared it as their historical territories in the West Philippine sea.
According to a media report, the Chinese People’s Liberation Army (PLA) released images that showed Shengyang J-11BH/BHS Flankers fighters jets were armed with missiles and are likely part of the People’s Liberation Army Navy’s 8th Aviation Division in Hainan Province. The fighters are accompanied by other aircraft and warships from the People’s Liberation Army-Navy (PLAN) South Sea Fleet.
Though unconfirmed by the PLA, the J-11s are most likely flying from Woody Island (known as Yongxing Island in Chinese) in the Paracels. Woody Island is the location of the sole operational Chinese military airstrip in the South China Sea at the moment though China is thought to be building at least two additional airstrips in the Spratly Islands, where it has built man-made islands.
Also read this: U.S. warning to China “Make no mistake in 24 hours our destroyer will sail near artificial islands”
Prior to US sailing of warship, China’s foreign Minister spokeperson Hua Chunying said, “We will make nessesary action to deal any threat and we will never allow any country to violate China’s territorial waters and airspace in the Spratly Islands, in the name of protecting freedom of navigation and overflight.”
The USS Lassen DDG-82 went through a 12-mile limit around Subi Reef in the Spratly Islands archipelago. The reef is one of seven that China has falsely strengthened to bolster its case on the archipelago and the sea around it.
source info from the diplomat.com and alert5 military news
Images used credited to nextbigpicture.com, navaltoday.com
By: Jason E.
