BEIJING: Chinese fighter jets were sent for patrolling of the contested islands in a practice-effort for responding to future security threats, a senior air force colonel said.
The exercises come at a time of heightened tension in the disputed waters after an arbitration court ruled last month, denying the Chinese so-called ‘historic rights’ to the South China Sea.
The air force sent several H-6 bombers and Su-30 fighter jets to inspect the airspace around the Spratly Islands and Scarborough Shoal, state news agency Xinhua quoted People’s Liberation Army (PLA) Air Force Colonel Shen Jinke as saying.
The news agency said the patrols included surveillance and refuelling the aircrafts but did not say when they occurred.
“The air force is organising normalised South China Sea combat patrols, practising tactics, increasing response capabilities to all kinds of security threats and safeguarding national sovereignty, security and maritime interests,” Shen said.
China has refused to recognise the ruling by The Hague’s arbitration court that invalidated its territorial claims in the South China Sea and did not take part in the proceedings brought by the Philippines.
A dispute over the shoal, 124 nautical miles northwest of the Philippines mainland, was one of Manila’s main reasons for bringing international legal action against China in 2013.
Beijing has reacted angrily to calls by Western countries and Japan for the decision to be adhered to and has released pictures of aircraft flying over the shoal since the ruling.
China has repeatedly blamed the United States for stoking tension through its military patrols in the South China Sea – a strategic waterway through which more than $5 trillion of trade moves annually.
China, Brunei, Malaysia, the Philippines, Taiwan and Vietnam all have rival claims in the South China Sea. The United States has conducted freedom of navigation patrols close to Chinese-held islands, to Beijing’s anger, while China has been bolstering its military presence there.