China conducts massive drills in South China Sea

From the Daily Tribune (Apr 19): China conducts massive drills in South China Sea

Beijing has carried out a series of extensive military drills in South China Sea in a move which could trigger more tensions with its Asian neighbors and the United States.

Some upgraded methods that resemble actual combat conditions were used in the exercises to increase the combat readiness and effectiveness of its South China Sea fleets, a report from the military-backed newspaper, the People’s Liberation Army Daily, yesterday said.

Part of the military drills included visibility range training, training within an electromagnetic environment, all-weather drills, and other military exercises.

“To think about special situations in an even more complex way, to make the enemy situation even more dangerous, to make the battlefield environment even more lifelike, is an important path in order for the navy and air force to stick close to the demands of real combat and accelerate its transformative production model for fighting strength,” Tian Junqing, a division commander of the Chinese fleets, was quoted as saying.

According to the daily, other items will be included in the training, such as 24-hour maritime attack drills and minimum altitude defensive dashes.

It said the fleets will work in coordination with early aerial warnings, surface ships and ground anti-aircraft defense, among other branches of the military. Military jet landing
Also, China landed a military plane on a disputed South China Sea reef it has built up into an artificial island, the paper said, in the first official confirmation of such a flight.

An air force plane landed on Fiery Cross Reef, which the Philippines refers to as Kagitingan Reef, in the Spratlys last Sunday to evacuate sick workers, the PLA added.

China claims nearly all of the strategically vital sea, even waters close to its Southeast Asian neighbors, and has created artificial islands in an effort to assert its claims.

It has significantly expanded Fiery Cross, which is also claimed by the Philippines and Vietnam, drawing international criticism.

In 2014, China began work on a 3,000-meter runway on the reef, which is around 1,000 kilometers from its island province of Hainan.

Beijing in January carried out several of what it called civilian flights to Fiery Cross, enraging Hanoi.

This weekend’s flight came just days after US Defense Secretary Ashton Carter visited a warship close to flashpoint waters, after announcing joint naval patrols with the Philippines.

On the day of Carter’s trip, Beijing said that one of its top military officials had visited a South China Sea island.

Fan Changlong, vice chairman of the Central Military Commission, observed building work, the defense ministry said, without giving a precise date or location for the visit.

Washington regularly accuses Beijing of militarizing the South China Sea, saying it has built runways and deployed weapons to the islands.

Beijing denies the accusations and says US patrols have ramped up tensions.

As well as China, the Philippines, Vietnam, Malaysia, Brunei and Taiwan have overlapping claims to parts of the sea, which are home to some of the world’s most important shipping lanes and believed to sit atop vast oil reserves. 

http://www.tribune.net.ph/headlines/china-conducts-massive-drills-in-south-china-sea