China exercise near Korea preps defense against ‘surprise attack’

by WorldTribune Staff, September 7, 2017

China’s air force on Sept. 5 carried out exercises to simulate its defense capabilities in case of a “surprise attack” coming over the sea, Chinese media reported.

The exercises were conducted in the Bohai sea. / Reuters

An anti-aircraft defense battalion held the exercises near the Bohai Sea, the innermost gulf of the Yellow Sea that separates China from the Korean peninsula, an official military website said.

The drills “do not target any particular goal or country,” and were part of an annual plan intended to boost the troops’ capability, China’s Defense Ministry said on its website on Sept. 6.

The exercises came days after North Korea’s sixth, and most powerful, nuclear test fueled global concern that the Kim Jong-Un regime plans more weapons tests, possibly of a long-range missile.

After weeks of rising tension over North Korea’s actions, South Korea and the United States have been discussing the deployment of aircraft carriers and strategic bombers to the Korean peninsula.

China is deeply suspicious of any U.S.-backed military build-up in the region, and has repeatedly expressed anger at the deployment of the U.S. THAAD anti-missile defense system in South Korea.

A Chinese media website said the Sept. 5 exercise was the first time certain weapons, which the website did not identify, had been used to shoot down low-altitude targets coming over the sea.

“The troops’ rapid response capabilities and actual combat levels have effectively been tested,” the Defense Ministry said.


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