China flies warplanes across region

BEIJING — China sent several warplanes on a long-range drill to the Sea of Japan on Monday and also conducted drills around rival Taiwan, moves that prompted South Korea to scramble fighter jets and could raise concerns about Beijing’s growing military presence in the region.

Chinese air force spokesman Shen Jinke said the air force dispatched bombers, fighters and reconnaissance planes through the Tsushima Strait to the Sea of Japan to “test its ocean combat ability.”

“This is a regular annual training arrangement of China’s air force that accords with the relevant international laws and practices and it isn’t aimed at any particular state, region and target,” Shen said in a statement.

This was the first time the Chinese air force has flown through the strait that lies between South Korea and Japan, Shen said.

Seoul’s Joint Chiefs of Staff said five Chinese warplanes entered South Korea’s air defence identification zone off a southern South Korean island almost at the same time on Monday. They then flew to the Japanese air defence zone above the waters between the Korean Peninsula and Japan, a JCS official said on condition of anonymity, citing department rules. The official said the Chinese planes entered the South Korean air defence zone again before returning to China.

South Korea used a military hotline to warn China of its planes’ entrance to the zone and China replied that it’s part of routine training, the official said.

Self-ruled Taiwan’s military says China’s air force held a separate drill Monday morning through the Bashi Channel separating Taiwan from the Philippines and then through the Miyako Strait, which lies north of Taiwan and to the south of Japan.