Global Times
Date: 2020/6/28
By: Liu Xuanzun
A Chinese People’s Liberation Army (PLA) air force formation conducts island patrols during training on April 26, 2018. The formation was made up of fighters, early warning and surveillance aircraft, and H-6K bombers, which took off from various military airfields. The formation flew over the Miyako Strait and Bashi Channel, completing an island patrol, the subject of the training. (Xinhua/Wu Yuepeng)
The two H-6K bombers on Sunday flew through the Miyako Strait from the East China Sea, entered the Pacific Ocean, approached Taiwan Island from the east, then returned to base via the same route, according to a press release by Japan's Defense Ministry Joint Staff on the same day.
Taiwan media said Sunday that there have been no similar missions by the PLA recently, and the Taiwan military was still confirming if the PLA bombers indeed returned from the same route they came, or returned after crossing the Bashi Channel.
By flying through airspace to the east of Taiwan, the PLA showed it can not only strike targets in western Taiwan, but also on the eastern side of the island. From there, PLA warplanes can also conduct anti-access and area denial missions and keep foreign interventions away, a Chinese mainland military expert told the Global Times on Sunday under condition of anonymity. [FULL STORY]
