CHINESE AIR FORCE SPREADS NEW WINGS

China’s military aviation industry has evolved from reverse engineering to indigenous design and development.

- JR Ng

Chinese airpower took centre stage in the Asia Pacific in the latter part of 2020, asthe People’s Liberation Army Air Force (PLAAF) repeatedly entered the Republic of China’s (ROC, commonly Taiwan’s) air defence identification zone (ADIZ). This clearly amounted to a show of force intended to erode not just Taiwanese resolve in resisting Beijing but also the smaller and less well-resourced Republic of China Air Force’s (RoCAF’s) ability to generate airpower.

The PLAAF show of force reached its peak on 18 September midway through a three-day official visit by US Under Secretary of State for Economic Growth, Energy, and the Environment, Keith Krach. As many as 18 aircraft – including Xian H-6 strategic bombers, singleengine Chengdu J-10 and twin-engine Shenyang J-11 and J-16 multirole combat aircraft – split into five groups which then carried out sorties to the northwest of Taiwan and in the southwest portion of the ADIZ, with some crossing over the median line in the Taiwan Strait.

The next day, another 19 PLAAF aircraft – comprising bombers, combat and patrol aircraft – flew six sorties to an area off Taiwan’s northwest and the southwest section of its ADIZ, with several aircraft again flying over the median line.

According to the Federation of American Scientists (FAS), China has perpetrated more than 4,400 intrusions into the ADIZs of Japan, South Korea, and Taiwan since 2013, with Chinese military aircraft often flying routes that consecutively transgress the ADIZs of those countries and pressure their respective air forces.