China’s deployment of H-6k bombers to disputed land features in the South China Sea has provoked an uproar across the region and beyond while raising considerably the potential for armed conflict.
China’s bombers are capable of conducting nuclear strikes and have an operational range of more than 1,000 nautical miles. This places practically all other claimant states in the contested maritime area within their crosshairs.
In recent months, China has conducted its largest-ever military drills, deployed electronic jamming equipment and positioned HQ-9B surface-to-air-missiles (SAMs) and YJ-12B anti-cruise ballistic missiles (ACBMs) to contested islands in the area. By all indications, China is now only a few steps away from imposing an Air Defense Identification Zone (ADIZ) across one of the world’s busiest and most important waterways.
According to an official statement by the People’s Liberation Army air force, “[a] division…recently organized multiple bombers such as the H-6K to conduct takeoff and landing training on islands and reefs in the South China Sea in order to improve our ability to ‘reach all [Chinese] territory, conduct strikes at any time and strike in all directions.’”
China has yet to confirm the precise area of the reported exercise, but satellite imagery analysis by the Washington-based Asia Maritime Transparency Initiative (AMTI) suggests that Woody Island in the Paracels is the likeliest spot.
As one Chinese military expert put it, the exercises were meant to enhance “real combat ability against all kinds of marine security threats’’ in the South China Sea. Chinese authorities have openly boasted about how the bombers could “reach all [Chinese maritime] territory” and “strike in all directions” against rivals and enemies if necessary.
Nearly the entirety of the Philippines falls within the range of China’s bombers. China may soon deploy the bombers to the Spratlys, some analysts predict. After years of relentless reclamation and militarization, the big three Chinese-occupied reefs, namely Mischief, Fiery Cross and Subi, can also accommodate its nuclear-capable bombers and other large fighter aircrafts.
In a statement, Vietnam made it clear that “demands that China stop these activities, cease militarization of the area, and strictly respect Vietnam’s sovereignty over the [Paracel] Islands,” which have been contested by both Beijing and Hanoi.
The Southeast Asian country accused China of “increas[ing] tensions” and “caus[ing] regional instabilities” to the detriment of the overall strategic environment in the South China Sea.
The Pentagon has criticized China’s “continued militarization of disputed features in the South China Sea”, which it says “only serves to raise tensions and destabilize the region.” It has underscored its commitment “to a free and open Indo-Pacific” amid the latest controversies.
The Chinese foreign ministry, for its part, has dismissed the criticisms, maintaining that “South China Sea islands are Chinese territories.” The Asian powerhouse claims “inherent and indisputable” sovereignty over the contested land features it claims in the area.
The Philippines, which has no direct claims in the Paracels, said it is “closely monitoring developments”, but fell short of directly criticizing China.
Days earlier, Philippine President Rodrigo Duterte went so far as to suggest that smaller claimants should remain “meek” and “humble” in exchange for China’s “mercy” in the South China Sea. Otherwise, the Filipino president claimed, they risk a “suicidal” war with China.
To up the ante, he has even suggested that China is now his de facto protector. During his meeting with the Chinese President Xi Jinping on the sidelines of the Boao Forum in April, Duterte claimed the Chinese leader told him: “We will not allow you to be taken out from your office, and we will not allow the Philippines to go to the dogs.”
China has neither confirmed nor denied the statement. Last year, Duterte claimed that Xi threatened to declare war if the Philippines insisted on its sovereign claims in the South China Sea. Since his ascent to the presidency, Duterte has placed normalization of bilateral ties with Beijing at the heart of his foreign policy.
He has repeatedly sought to downplay the South China Sea disputes in order to secure rich trade and investment deals with China. However, prominent Filipino voices, including in the Philippine defense establishment, have remained highly critical of China’s latest moves.
Interim Supreme Court Chief Justice Antonio Carpio warned Duterte that the “[f]ailure to formally protest [China’s deployment of bombers] means the Philippines is acquiescing or consenting to the militarization, and worse, to the claim of China that all the islands, waters and resources within the nine-dashed line form part of Chinese territory.”
In recent days, the Philippine military has reiterated its commitment to upholding the country’s sovereign rights in the area.
“Your Armed Forces are always aware and will not renege on our beholden constitutional duties to protect our sovereignty and maintain our territorial areas [in South China Sea],” said Armed Forces of the Philippines (AFP) spokesperson Edgard Arevalo in late May.
Crucially, by emphasizing their “constitutional duties”, the AFP has made it clear that their primary loyalty is to the Philippines’ territorial integrity rather than any specific leader, namely Duterte.
The AFP has gradually upgraded security cooperation with traditional security partners, particularly America, Australian and Japan, in order to deter China’s maritime assertiveness.
The latest Philippine-US annual Balikatan exercises, held this month, saw the participation of around 8,000 troops and the holding of joint amphibious drills in the South China Sea.
Still, Duterte has appeared to plead for the AFP’s understanding of his position. In early May, during an oath-taking ceremony with the Philippine military, the Filipino president stated, “It’s a play of geopolitics. And I’ll explain to you [military] why my attitude towards China [is like this].”
Over the past two years, he has also sought to win over the armed forces with an expanded package of salaries and benefits. But as China moves ever closer to establishing an exclusion zone in the South China Sea, Duterte is having an increasingly difficult time justifying his China-friendly diplomacy.
Well to be perfectly honest, in my humble opinion, of course without offending anyone who thinks differently from my point of view, but also by looking into this matter in a different perspective and without being condemning of one’s view’s and by trying to make it objectified, and by considering each and every one’s valid opinion, I honestly believe that I completely forgot what I was going to say.
withen 3 yrs. South china sea off limits to ASEAN navy @ American forces.
Mustafa Kamal Satar China will invade India?? ???????????????? Even china cannot invade bhutan due presence of indian army in that region. China is powerful only in paper. in doklam issue china is scared of only 50 indian soldiers. you are such a joke.
Mustafa Kamal Satar its not a simple joke to beat india..!! U dont know how much powerfull we r.
It is really not difficult to explain why the Philippines will not go to war with China over the Spratleys. It 7s Hyderian who is having difficulty explaining why the Philippines should fight a war it cannot win and sacrifice precious Filipino soldiers’ lives. Surely, the AFP is well aware of its capabilities and know fully well what the possible outcomes will be. Hyderian is just pandering to his western benefactors.
Yes, China is so powerfully strong militarily. It has the right to bully all SE Asian countries because might is right. I suggest China to not only seize the seas but also invade every SE Asian country (Vietnam, Brunei, Indonesia, Malaysia, Philippinese) and declare them as Chines provinces. Ans while you’re conquering SE Asia, why not take over Australia too. I’m sure China has "indisputable right" to all these land masses and the seas around them. Don’t woryy, US and Japan will just let China walk all over these countries without a fight. Go ahead, invade Phiippines, it’s so weak, in juat 1 hour, China can take ove rwhole Phlippines. I am sure Philippinese used to be a part of China during Middle Kingdom. And why not invade India, Pakistan, nepal and Bhutan and Mongolia. They’are all your too. You can easily beat all these countries and gain acces to Indian Ocean which is rightly your Ocean, you can renamne it ‘Chinese Ocean’.
China didn’t take any part from the Philippine territory, so, why do Filipinos hate China’s internal activities.
If the range of China’s missile reaches to some parts of the Philippine archepelago, i think it is normal and possible because both countries have common boundary in its territory.
Vietnam and NOT Philippines has claim that said islands in south-China sea where China put up their military camps.
But the most important, China knows that Philippines/Filipinos are friendly people and they have wide arms that allow Chinese migrants to stay safe anywhere in Philippines.
Matthew Abbott Wait a minute. Thats what the US said about Vietnam too. It was going to be a hellhole if the North Vietnamese win.
Greg Way, I think your claim contracticted the US’s freedom of navigation. If the SCS were China’s territory as your claim means, China must not allow any freedom in her territory, the SCS. That is, if freedom of nvigation is allowed in the SCS, the said sea is part of the high seas = international seas; the SCS is not anybody’s territory.
Awer San , The killings in Mao’s China were state sanctioned like this photo: https://i.imgur.com/LI8E7u6.jpg.
The Paracels and the Spratleys were ceded to China by Japan in the peace Treaty of Taipei 1953. In the 1970s, Pham Van Dong, the then Prime Minister of N Vietnam, agreed, in open letter to Zhou En Lai that the Paracels is part of China.
So, landing military planes like bombers on China’s own territory is viewed as aggression. And US-S Korea exercises with B52 bombers just off the N Korean border, and the US- Philippine military exercise in the SC Sea is not aggression.
This is the same accusation made against Russia by NATO. Russian militasy exercises within Russian borders is aggression but NATO military exercises near Russian borders is not aggression.
US promised not to expand NATO an inch eastwards after the collapse of the Soviets, but it has now expanded to the Russian borders. Now the lying US militarists accuse Russia of expanding its borders westwards close to NATO bases, turning everything upside down.
Similarly, in the East, the US and its lackeys with propagandists like Heydarian have turned everything upside down.
Fleets of carrier battle groups, missile destroyers, lurking submarines, hydrological surveys to establish seabed and salinity conditions for undersea warfare and 400 plus US military bases encircling China are not peaceful moves.
China is merely countering wannable aggressors, doing it rather well and ensuring regional peace. Hence all these articles whinging about China’s defensive buildup.
LOL!
this problem would be much more easily solved without a Chinese lackey running the Philippines. the rest of South East Asia is already united against mainland chinas increasing belligerence
better freedom than being ruled by emperor xi and his cultureless mao zedong worshipers who killed more of his people than even Japan ever did
at last they admit it. this is nothing but the seizing of territory from a weaker nation. chinas "claim" is laughable to begin with
Lol, NeoNut-cases like you will fight China with last Phillpino, and you think Duterte is stupid?
China landed a bomber on her own island – this is on Yongxing Island in Parcel Islands. Big deal! Also notice the emphasis on "nuclear-capable," as in other western media report. Is China going to take off H-6K from Yongxing to carry nuclear bombs to bomb Phillipine, Malaysia, or Vietnam? It’s so laughable and depserate.
Oh, by the way, the US flew two B-52’s close to China’s Guangdong Province coastline a few weeks ago. The B-52 is much bigger than H-6K and has much longer range too. What do you make of it?
Do expect China to fly its fighters and bombers more frequently to her territories, including islands in South China Sea, in response to the US’s "freedom of navigation" passages within China’s territories in the sea or close to her territories in the air.
I’m pretty sure the Americans had Europe’s best interests at heart when we kicked the Nazis out. I’m pretty sure South Korea is only there because the US intervened and prevented the northern communists from crushing it and turning the whole peninsula into a labor camp for the Kim dynasty.
Your comment smacks of Chinese brainwashing. You even use terminology the PRC propaganda pushes through New Speak and People’s Daily. I get the feeling you’re a communist fifty cent punk, a running dog. Your rhetoric disgusts me, and I don’t think somebody like you belongs in the West, spreading lies on behalf of Beijing. I bet you’re one of those jerks that denies the Tiananmen massacre and tries to deny that the ROC is a legitimate country and a democracy – it’s existence process that Chinese don’t need to be ruled, that all of humanity is capable of living in freedom with inalienable rights. You are a disgusting creature, the pet of an evil dictatorship.
Duterte is such a whipped dog.
We need a SEATO, and we’ve needed it for a long time.
Who is going to war? Philippines? To challenge China? Goodness. You must be thinking uncle san will have your back. Think again. You are a professor with resources. To write this type of article is really beneath you Sir.