China conducts military exercise in Western Pacific
China’s air force has again conducted military drills in the West Pacific in an attempt to scale up its air security and bolster its capabilities.
China's air force said in a statement on Friday that the army conducted air drills, flying over the Miyako Strait, a body of water between Japan's islands of Miyako and Okinawa.
It said that the air force sent bombers and other jets through the strait, showing pictures of H-6 bombers participating in the exercise.
"This year the air force has four times carried out drills in the Western Pacific, raising the air force's ability to fight over long distances far out at sea," it added.
According to the statement, fighters also carried out a patrol in the “Air Defense Identification Zone (ADIZ)” in the East China Sea.
China declared the zone in 2013, in which aircraft are supposed to identify themselves to Chinese authorities.
The drills were normal exercises and China will continue to carry them out in accordance with international practice, the Chinese Defense Ministry noted.
A strategic route, the Miyako Strait is often used by China’s navy forces as a pathway from Eastern China to the Pacific Ocean.
The drills come as the relations between China and Japan have soured since a territorial dispute broke out over islets in the East China Sea, known in China as the Diaoyu and in Japan as the Senkaku.
The announcement sparked condemnation from Japan and the United States.
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