 Flights across eastern China thrown into chaos as China's People's Liberation Army shows off its strength
An unprecedented series of military drills by the People's Liberation Army,
designed to show off the strength and professionalism its army, navy and air
force, have caused chaos across eastern China's airspace.
The drills, which began in May and which will continue until mid-August, have
thrown domestic and international flights into chaos. On Tuesday, planes
were unable to land at eight airports and Shanghai saw the capacity of both
its airports reduced by three-quarters.
Last weekend, more than 800 flights were delayed or cancelled in Shanghai and
Beijing by live-fire drills.
Military insiders said this year's exercises are the largest ever and are
intended to simulate how the PLA would respond to an attack on China by a
foreign enemy.
Part of the drills involved a simulated electromagnetic attack designed to knock out communications and radar systems. The PLA Daily, the official army newspaper, noted there had been "heavy airstrikes", as well as "electronic disturbance teams" and even "chemical weapons drills". Under such circumstances, the narrow corridor of civilian airspace on China's busy east coast was heavily restricted. "The naval drill beginning this week involves the East fleet, the North fleet and the South fleet, which is unprecedented for the navy," said Colonel Chen Hong, a former professor at the PLA Air Force College. "Every airborne unit and ground missile unit has been deployed in the PLA Air Force, which is also a first," he added. In addition, all seven of China's military regions have sent soldiers to Beijing to take part for the first time in a set of drills designed to test soldiers against an elite force modelled on the US army. The attacking "Blue" army, made up of two tank battalions, four mechanised infantry battalions and three artillery battalions, was played by the 195th mobile infantry brigade of the 65th group army based in Beijing. Its soldiers wear light blue camouflage, with a wolf insignia, and are trained and equipped like US soldiers, to the extent that their canteen serves food with knives and forks rather than chopsticks. In the past, the war games that have pitted the PLA against the Blue army have been heavily scripted. This year, however, it was decided to practice for real. "Neither side knew anything about the battle beforehand," said Col Chen. "It is better to for the PLA to learn hard lessons in these drills than to spill blood in a real war," he added. Embarrassingly, the Blue army went on to win six out of its seven battles, defeating every military region except for Shenyang. Nevertheless, the display of the PLA's professionalism, coupled with its growing firepower, was designed to send a strong message to China's Asian neighbours, including Japan, and to the United States. "All these deployments are unprecedented compared to previous drills. The exercises show that our nation has the ability to defend ourselves against any invasion. They are a deterrent to countries around us," said Col Chen. "The fate of the nation has never been so closely linked to the strength and weakness of the army, and the victories and defeats on the battlefield as it is today," added the PLA Daily, the official army newspaper. |
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