The Chinese military for the first time conducted a “bomber formation patrol” with its fighter jets over the disputed South China Sea on Sunday as a “warning” to the Philippines after its navy conducted joint patrols with the US and Japan.
China,
which claims most of the South China Sea, is locked in an intractable maritime
dispute with the Philippines, Vietnam, Malaysia, Brunei and Taiwan, which have
counterclaims over the area that is home to busy regional and international
trade routes.
The
Chinese People’s Liberation Army (PLA) Southern Theatre Command announced that
it had conducted a bomber formation patrol amid the Philippines’ so-called
“joint patrols” with external forces — the first time it has announced such a
move, according to the state-run Global Times.
The
two-day maritime exercise by the US, Japan and the Philippines ran from Friday
to Saturday.
In
a statement, a spokesperson for the Southern Theatre Command, Senior Colonel
Tian Junli, said the Philippines has frequently colluded with external forces
to carry out so-called “joint patrols,” undermining regional peace and
stability.
“We
solemnly warn the Philippine side to immediately stop provoking incidents and
escalating tensions,” he said.
The
theatre command forces maintain a high level of alert at all times, resolutely
safeguarding national sovereignty, security, and peace and stability in the
South China Sea region, Tian said.
Any
attempt to infringe on the sovereignty and stir up trouble will never succeed,
he added.
According
to military affairs experts, the bomber formation is one of the PLA’s
diversified strike methods.
Song
Zhongping, a military affairs expert, told the Global Times that the bombers
are among the most important air strike forces, and the dispatch of a bomber
formation can demonstrate stronger strike capability. These can also carry out
effective saturation attacks even if the opponent has large surface ships, he
said.
The
Philippines has been courting external forces to conduct so-called “joint
patrols” in the South China Sea, posing threats to China’s sovereignty over its
islands and reefs, he said.
Against
this background, the PLA bomber formation’s patrol could serve as a warning to
the provocateurs’ warships, Song added.
In
recent months, tensions between the Philippines and China escalated with naval
and coast guard ships of both countries colliding to assert control of the
areas they claim.
China’s
bomber patrols also came in the backdrop of a sudden spurt of tensions between
China and Japan.
Japanese
Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi recently said that any Taiwan emergency involving
the use of military force by China could be recognised as a
“survival-threatening situation” for Japan under its security legislation,
which may allow it to exercise the right of collective self-defence.
Her
remarks have stirred up a major diplomatic row between Tokyo and Beijing.
China
warned that any Japanese intervention in Taiwan would be seen as an act of
aggression and would be met with strong retaliation.
A
commentary by the Chinese military mouthpiece, the PLA Daily, on Sunday warned
that Japan risked turning its entire country into a battlefield if it
intervened militarily in the Taiwan Strait.
In
the strongly worded commentary, the official newspaper of the PLA said Takaichi
had revealed Tokyo’s “wolfish ambition to interfere in other countries’
internal affairs through military means”.
The
commentary warned that Japan’s “misguided actions” would only lead the country
“down a path of no return”.
“It
risks the entire country becoming a battlefield,” it said.
Meanwhile,
reports from Tokyo said on Sunday that following Takaichi’s firm stand, her
public approval rate rose to 69.9 per cent, up 5.5 percentage points from the
previous poll conducted shortly after she took office late last month.
The
survey, held over two days from Saturday, found that 60.4 per cent favoured an increase
in defence spending to bolster Japan’s defence capabilities, while 48.8 per
cent supported the exercise of its right to collective self-defence in the
event of a Taiwan contingency, according to the Japanese news agency, Kyodo.
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