China to send strategic bombers, fighter jets for war games in Russia
Among the Chinese military aircraft at the International Army Games on July 28 will be H-6K bombers, which have carried out patrols around the South China Sea and Taiwan Strait.
The H-6K bombers – with 1,600km air-launched cruise missiles and reportedly a combat range of 3,500km – conducted take-off and landing drills over the South China Sea in May, which Washington said would “raise tensions and destabilize the region”. The bombers have also been deployed for encirclement exercises around Taiwan in a move seen as sending a warning to the pro-independence groups of the self-ruled island.
As well as the missions over the South China Sea and Taiwan Strait, the H-6K bombers have also been flown near the US territory of Guam in the western Pacific, triggering concerns that they may be used as part of a deterrence strategy aimed at America, and they could strike US aircraft carrier battle groups.
Collin Koh, a maritime security expert at the Nanyang Technological University in Singapore, said ... that it would be seen as China trying to emphasize its growing military power by those involved in regional territorial disputes such as over the South China Sea, while for others it may be seen as Beijing’s latest bid to assert itself.
https://www.scmp.com/news/china/diplomacy-defence/article/2155224/china-send-strategic-bombers-fighter-jets-war-games