US hits out at Chinese moves

A Chinese H-6K bomber patrols in the South China Sea. Photo / AP

The US Pentagon criticised what it called China's "continued militarisation" of island outposts in the disputed South China Sea, where the Chinese Air Force landed long-range bombers for the first time, putting Southeast Asia within their range.

The China Daily reported that the People's Liberation Army Air Force conducted takeoff and landing training with the H-6K bomber. China is pitted against smaller neighbours in multiple disputes over islands, coral reefs and lagoons in waters crucial for global commerce and rich in fish and potential oil and gas reserves.

A statement from the Defence Ministry said the exercise was conducted on an island reef, but it did not specify when or where. It involved several H-6Ks taking off from an air base and making a simulated strike against sea targets before landing.

"The US remains committed to a free and open Indo-Pacific," a Pentagon spokesman, Marine Lieutenant Colonel Christopher Logan, said. "China's continued militarisation of disputed features in the South China Sea only serves to raise tensions and destabilise the region."

The US-based Asia Maritime Transparency Initiative, using Chinese social media posts, identified the location as Woody Island, China's largest base in the Paracel Islands that are also claimed by Vietnam and Taiwan. With a combat radius of nearly 3520km, the H-6K bomber would put all of Southeast Asia in its range from there, AMTI said.

Farther south in the Spratly islands, China has constructed seven man-made islands and equipped them with runways, hangers, radar and missile stations. China says it has a legitimate right to build up defences on the islands.

Admiral Phil Davidson, head of the US Pacific Command, told Congress recently that Beijing's island bases can be used to challenge the US presence in the region, "and any forces deployed to the islands would easily overwhelm the military forces of any other South China Sea-claimants."

- AP