China ‘to continue flights over high seas’
The Chinese air force says its combat drills over high seas have become a “routine” practice and will continue.
“The air force’s distant sea training has become routine, systematic, and practical,” China Central Television quoted air force spokesman Shen Jinke as saying late on Thursday.
Shen, who was addressing reporters at a news briefing on “Army Games 2017” in Wuhan, the capital city of central China’s Hubei Province, said that China’s high-sea drills have increased in frequency over the past years.
China’s long-range flight drills at sea, which started three years ago, were not targeted at any specific country or region, Shen said.
He said the recent flight of various warplanes over the Bashi Channel and Miyako Strait had tested the air force’s actual combat capabilities on the high seas.
The air force said on its microblog earlier this month that its planes had recently flown through both the Miyako Strait — which lies between two southern Japanese islands — and the Bashi Channel, which separates Taiwan and the Philippines.
The spokesperson said such drills accorded with international law. They were legitimate, reasonable and justified, he said.
The drills were not meant to target any countries or regions but were the requirement of China’s military and national defense building, Shen said.
The air force aims to safeguard national sovereignty and territorial integrity, as well as the interests of the country’s air safety through carrying out actual combat drills, he said.
China is in a territorial dispute with some of its neighbors in the East and South China Sea.
In the South China Sea, China has rival claims to territory with the Philippines, Malaysia, Indonesia, Brunei, and Vietnam.
China and Japan have been involved in a territorial dispute in the East China Sea over the Senkaku Islands, known as the Diaoyus in China.
The United States, which has military presence in the regions, has backed up China’s rival claimants in the territorial disputes.
China says US still interfering in its affairs despite efforts to stabilize relations
Philippines, US kick off drills in disputed waters of South China Sea
AUKUS risks nuclear proliferation in Pacific: China
VIDEO | Iran marks defeat of US military operation in Tabas Desert
VIDEO | Press TV's news headlines
US troopers crack down on pro-Palestinian protests at University of Texas
VIDEO | German warship departs Red Sea as EU 'naval mission' fails
VIDEO | Palestinians inspect rubble of destroyed building in Rafah
Yemeni forces strike US, Israeli vessels in fresh pro-Palestinian operations
‘Say no to Biden’: US college being pressed not to endorse genocide
VIDEO | UN: Alarming food insecurity crisis grips Afghanistan
This makes it easy to access the Press TV website
