Air Force flies exercises over Tsushima Strait, Sea of Japan

The Chinese Air Force sent aircraft through the Tsushima Strait for the first time on Monday and carried out training in international airspace above the Sea of Japan, the PLA Air Force said.

Senior Colonel Shen Jinke, spokesman for the People’s Liberation Army Air Force, said at an unidentified air base in East China on Monday that several types of aircraft from the PLA Air Force, including the H-6K bomber and Su-30 multirole fighter jet, flew in a group through the Tsushima Strait before conducting training over the Sea of Japan, according to a news release.

He said reconnaissance planes also took part in the operation, without elaborating on their models.

The Tsushima Strait is the eastern channel of the Korea Strait, which lies between Korea and Japan, connecting the Sea of Japan, the Yellow Sea and the East China Sea.

“This operation is part of the Air Force’s annual training plan and is in compliance with international laws and norms,” Shen said. “It wasn’t aimed at any specific nation, region or target.”

During the operation, the fleet “handled interference from foreign military aircraft”. The Chinese planes achieved their preset training goals and strengthened long-range operational capabilities, the release quoted Shen as saying.

The release noted that the Sea of Japan does not belong to Japan and the Tsushima Strait is not part of any country’s territorial waters, so any nation has the freedom to navigate them by sea or air.

Colonel Chen Liang, commander of a H-6K bomber in the operation, was quoted in the release as saying that his unit would make several longdistance, ocean-bound exercises each month and that these operations have boosted pilots’ courage and combat capability.

South Korea’s Yonhap News Agency reported on Monday afternoon that “five Chinese military aircraft entered the Korean Air Defense Identification Zone” earlier that day, citing sources from the nation’s Joint Chiefs of Staff.

Monday’s exercise was the latest move by the PLA Air Force in its recent efforts to expand its operational scope. This month, it flew at least four long-range drills into the western Pacific Ocean involving fighter jets, bombers, early warning aircraft, electronic intelligence planes as well as aerial refueling aircraft.

On Sunday, the Air Force published the video Flying Around the Island on its Sina Weibo account showing several H-6Ks escorted by fighter jets off an unidentified island.