Beijing Launches Combat Air Patrols Over South China Sea

Tuesday, July 19, 2016
By Paul Martin

SputnikNews.com
19.07.2016

Taking a page from the Pentagon playbook, China’s People’s Liberation Army Air Force (PLAAF) will now conduct regular combat patrols of the South China Sea.

Throughout the ongoing tensions in the South China Sea, the United States has conducted a series of provocative military patrols through the region. Claiming its actions are routine “freedom of navigation” exercises, the US Navy has sailed within the 12-mile territorial limit of Beijing’s land reclamation projects. American B-52 bombers have also conducted flights over the waterway, along with other surveillance aircraft.

On Friday, the PLAAF sent its own warplane over the South China Sea, an H-6K long-range nuclear-capable bomber.

On Monday, PLAAF spokesperson Shen Jinke indicated that these flights will become a “regular practice” according to Xinhua news agency. By doing this, the air force hopes to “promote real combat training” in the region.

China’s patrols come in the wake of the ruling by the Hague-based Court of Arbitration, which said Beijing has no legal basis for claiming historical rights to territories within the nine-dash line in the South China Sea.

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