China yesterday showed off its increasingly sophisticated air power, including surveillance drones, with an eye on disputed territories from Taiwan to the South China Sea and its rivalry with the US.
The nation’s biggest airshow, in the southern coastal city of Zhuhai, comes as Beijing pushes to meet a 2035 deadline to retool its military for modern warfare.
China still lags the US in terms of technology and investment in its war machine, but experts say it is narrowing the gap.
Photo: AFP
A US intelligence report this year flagged China’s growing influence as one of Washington’s biggest threats.
An air force aerobatic team left colorful vapor trails as it maneuvered in formation, while visitors inspected new jets, drones and attack helicopters on the tarmac.
The CH-6, a prototype drone with a wingspan of 20.5m, was among the domestic technology unveiled.
It is designed for surveillance and can also carry weapons for strike missions, open-source intelligence agency Janes reported.
The drone has a cruising altitude of 10,000m, “but it can go as high as 15,000m,” said Qin Yongming, general manager of drone maker Aerospace CH UAV Co.
“It can fly for longer periods [than previous models] ... it can carry out longer missions, with higher efficiency without any time limits,” Qin said.
Other debutants included the WZ-7 high-altitude drone for border reconnaissance and maritime patrol, as well as the J-16D fighter that has the ability to jam electronic equipment.
Both have already entered service with the air force, state media reported.
“They will play a major role in both the Taiwan Strait and the South China Sea,” military commentator Song Zhongping (宋忠平) said.
Under former US president Donald Trump, Washington authorized about US$18 billion of arms sales to Taiwan, including advanced missile platforms — sales that angered Beijing.
China is also “clearly positioning itself to be an alternative supplier” of advanced drones, with relative affordability, Janes analyst Kelvin Wong (黃加榮) said.
The US and European nations have been hesitant to supply such equipment outside a select group of partners, he said.
Chinese drones have already seen combat action in the Middle East and have been sold to customers in other regions as well.
The J-16D improves the combat capabilities of the People’s Liberation Army, said James Char, a Chinese military expert at Singapore’s Nanyang Technological University.
The jet has wingtip pods to disrupt enemy electronic equipment and has drawn comparisons with the US-made EA-18G Growler.
“It gives the Chinese military an advantage in terms of conducting aerial electronic warfare over targets that possess significant air defense capabilities,” Char said.
The Zhuhai airshow, usually held every two years, was postponed from last year due to the COVID-19 pandemic, and is being staged before a largely domestic audience due to quarantine and travel restrictions.
AIR SUPPORT: The Ministry of National Defense thanked the US for the delivery, adding that it was an indicator of the White House’s commitment to the Taiwan Relations Act Deputy Minister of National Defense Po Horng-huei (柏鴻輝) and Representative to the US Alexander Yui on Friday attended a delivery ceremony for the first of Taiwan’s long-awaited 66 F-16C/D Block 70 jets at a Lockheed Martin Corp factory in Greenville, South Carolina. “We are so proud to be the global home of the F-16 and to support Taiwan’s air defense capabilities,” US Representative William Timmons wrote on X, alongside a photograph of Taiwanese and US officials at the event. The F-16C/D Block 70 jets Taiwan ordered have the same capabilities as aircraft that had been upgraded to F-16Vs. The batch of Lockheed Martin
GRIDLOCK: The National Fire Agency’s Special Search and Rescue team is on standby to travel to the countries to help out with the rescue effort A powerful earthquake rocked Myanmar and neighboring Thailand yesterday, killing at least three people in Bangkok and burying dozens when a high-rise building under construction collapsed. Footage shared on social media from Myanmar’s second-largest city showed widespread destruction, raising fears that many were trapped under the rubble or killed. The magnitude 7.7 earthquake, with an epicenter near Mandalay in Myanmar, struck at midday and was followed by a strong magnitude 6.4 aftershock. The extent of death, injury and destruction — especially in Myanmar, which is embroiled in a civil war and where information is tightly controlled at the best of times —
Taiwan was ranked the fourth-safest country in the world with a score of 82.9, trailing only Andorra, the United Arab Emirates and Qatar in Numbeo’s Safety Index by Country report. Taiwan’s score improved by 0.1 points compared with last year’s mid-year report, which had Taiwan fourth with a score of 82.8. However, both scores were lower than in last year’s first review, when Taiwan scored 83.3, and are a long way from when Taiwan was named the second-safest country in the world in 2021, scoring 84.8. Taiwan ranked higher than Singapore in ninth with a score of 77.4 and Japan in 10th with
China's military today said it began joint army, navy and rocket force exercises around Taiwan to "serve as a stern warning and powerful deterrent against Taiwanese independence," calling President William Lai (賴清德) a "parasite." The exercises come after Lai called Beijing a "foreign hostile force" last month. More than 10 Chinese military ships approached close to Taiwan's 24 nautical mile (44.4km) contiguous zone this morning and Taiwan sent its own warships to respond, two senior Taiwanese officials said. Taiwan has not yet detected any live fire by the Chinese military so far, one of the officials said. The drills took place after US Secretary