China landed strategic bombers in the SCS island, it’s the first time that China lands in the disputed South China Sea (SCS). Drawing sharp reaction from the United States which said that the move will “raise tensions and destabilise the region.”
China’s air force said that its fighter jets, an H-6K bomber, had recently conducted take-off and landing training on an island reef in the resource-rich SCS.
The training had elevated the air force’s abilities of “reaching its full territory, assaulting in full time and space, and striking in full scope”, the Hong Kong-based South China Morning Post quoted the People’s Liberation Air Force (PLAF) as saying.
Wang Minliang, a military expert, was quoted as saying that the bombers’ take-off and landing training was “beneficial to enhance the real combat ability against all kinds of security threats in the sea.”People’s Daily, the Chinese Communist Party’s official newspaper, on Friday posted a video on its Twitter account featuring a series of the H-6K’s training programmes, including take-off, landing and flying.
In early May, the US said that it was prepared to take measures against militarisation of the SCS after Beijing reportedly installed new missiles on outposts in the Spratly Islands — known in China as the Nansha Islands — that are also claimed by Vietnam and the Philippines.
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China claims almost all of the SCS but Vietnam, the Philippines, Malaysia, Brunei and Taiwan have counterclaims.
The US is periodically deploying its naval ships and fighter planes to assert freedom of navigation.
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