China holds 'bomber patrol' over South China Sea to counter Philippines, US, Japan maritime drills

Beijing: The Chinese military for the first time conducted a "bomber formation patrol" with its fighter jets over the disputed South China Sea on Sunday as a “warning” to the Philippines after its navy conducted joint patrols with the US and Japan.

China, which claims most of the South China Sea, is locked in an intractable maritime dispute with the Philippines, Vietnam, Malaysia, Brunei and Taiwan, which have counterclaims over the area that is home to busy regional and international trade routes.

The Chinese People's Liberation Army (PLA) Southern Theatre Command announced that it had conducted a bomber formation patrol amid the Philippines' so-called "joint patrols" with external forces the first time it has announced such a move, according to the state-run Global Times.

The two-day maritime exercise by the US, Japan and the Philippines ran from Friday to Saturday.

In a statement, a spokesperson for the Southern Theatre Command, Senior Colonel Tian Junli, said the Philippines has frequently colluded with external forces to carry out so-called "joint patrols," undermining regional peace and stability.

"We solemnly warn the Philippine side to immediately stop provoking incidents and escalating tensions," he said.

The theatre command forces maintain a high level of alert at all times, resolutely safeguarding national sovereignty, security, and peace and stability in the South China Sea region, Tian said.

Any attempt to infringe on the sovereignty and stir up trouble will never succeed, he added.

According to military affairs experts, the bomber formation is one of the PLA's diversified strike methods.

Song Zhongping, a military affairs expert, told the Global Times that the bombers are among the most important air strike forces, and the dispatch of a bomber formation can demonstrate stronger strike capability. These can also carry out effective saturation attacks even if the opponent has large surface ships, he said.

The Philippines has been courting external forces to conduct so-called "joint patrols" in the South China Sea, posing threats to China's sovereignty over its islands and reefs, he said.

Against this background, the PLA bomber formation's patrol could serve as a warning to the provocateurs' warships, Song added.

In recent months, tensions between the Philippines and China escalated with naval and coast guard ships of both countries colliding to assert control of the areas they claim.

China’s bomber patrols also came in the backdrop of a sudden spurt of tensions between China and Japan.

Japanese Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi recently said that any Taiwan emergency involving the use of military force by China could be recognised as a "survival-threatening situation" for Japan under its security legislation, which may allow it to exercise the right of collective self-defence.

Her remarks have stirred up a major diplomatic row between Tokyo and Beijing.

China warned that any Japanese intervention in Taiwan would be seen as an act of aggression and would be met with strong retaliation.

A commentary by the Chinese military mouthpiece, the PLA Daily, on Sunday warned that Japan risked turning its entire country into a battlefield if it intervened militarily in the Taiwan Strait.

In the strongly worded commentary, the official newspaper of the PLA said Takaichi had revealed Tokyo’s “wolfish ambition to interfere in other countries’ internal affairs through military means”.

The commentary warned that Japan’s “misguided actions” would only lead the country “down a path of no return”.

“It risks the entire country becoming a battlefield,” it said.

Meanwhile, reports from Tokyo said on Sunday that following Takaichi’s firm stand, her public approval rate rose to 69.9 per cent, up 5.5 percentage points from the previous poll conducted shortly after she took office late last month. The survey, held over two days from Saturday, found that 60.4 per cent favoured an increase in defence spending to bolster Japan's defence capabilities, while 48.8 per cent supported the exercise of its right to collective self-defence in the event of a Taiwan contingency, according to the Japanese news agency, Kyodo.