PLA air force on combat patrols
Print Edition
CHINA’S People’s Liberation Army Air Force has sent bombers and fighter jets on “combat patrols” near disputed areas in the South China Sea to improve its fighting ability and to safeguard the country’s sovereignty and maritime rights and interests.
The Air Force sent several H-6 bombers and Su-30 fighter jets to inspect the airspace around the Nansha and Huangyan islands, Senior Colonel Shen Jinke of the PLA Air Force said on Saturday.
Several types of planes — bombers, fighters, airborne early warning aircraft, reconnaissance and tanker airplanes — performed the patrol, he said, adding that they took off from several airports.
The aircraft have completed a series of training missions, including air defense early warning maneuvers, air combat and island patrolling, in a complicated electromagnetic environment, he said.
“The Air Force is organizing normalized 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 an arbitration court in The Hague over the South China Sea dispute and did not take part in the proceedings brought by the Philippines.
China has dismissed the biased July 12 ruling as “null and void with no binding force.”
China says it stands ready to continue to resolve relevant disputes peacefully through negotiation and consultation with the states directly concerned on the basis of respecting historical facts and in accordance with international law.
The Philippine News Agency reported yesterday that former Philippine President Fidel Ramos will leave for Beijing today to start initial talks with Chinese officials.
President Rodrigo Duterte has named Ramos as a special envoy to repair soured ties between China and the Philippines.
The 88-year-old will be accompanied by former Interior and Local Government Secretary Rafael Alunan, journalist Chito Romana and Ramos’s grandson Sam Jones, his office said yesterday.
Presidential spokesperson Ernesto Abella said on July 29 that Duterte had asked Ramos to start direct talks with China, giving the former president “principles of wisdom about how to go about the conversation with China.”
Abella said Duterte wanted Ramos “to start with things they agree on and not necessarily begin from an adversarial or instant position.”
Ramos, who served as the Philippine president from 1992 to 1998, has maintained good relations with China even after leaving office.
He was instrumental in the creation of the Boao Forum for Asia, a non-government and non-profit international organization, in 1998.
- About Us
- |
- Terms of Use
- |
-
RSS - |
- Privacy Policy
- |
- Contact Us
- |
- Shanghai Call Center: 962288
- |
- Tip-off hotline: 52920043
- 沪ICP证：沪ICP备05050403号-1
- |
- 互联网新闻信息服务许可证：31120180004
- |
- 网络视听许可证：0909346
- |
- 广播电视节目制作许可证：沪字第354号
- |
- 增值电信业务经营许可证：沪B2-20120012
Copyright © 1999- Shanghai Daily. All rights reserved.Preferably viewed with Internet Explorer 8 or newer browsers.
