Pentagon: China deploys 16 fighter jets to South China Sea island

Pentagon: China deploys 16 fighter jets to South China Sea island. April. 15, 2016 07:20. by 베이징=구자룡특파원 bonhong@donga.com.

The U.S. media Stars and Stripes quoted a U.S. military source on Wednesday in reporting that China deployed 16 units of Shenyang J-11 on Woody Island in the South China Sea on April 7. Satellite images taken by ImageSat International on April 7 confirm two J-11 fighter jets have been deployed on Woody Island.

The U.S. media reported that while this is not the first for China to have deployed fighter jets to Woody Island, the scale of deployment is unprecedented in terms of the number of jets. It also claimed that Chinese President Xi Jinping failed to honor the commitment to demilitarize South China Sea, which was made during his visit to the U.S. in February. The U.S. Department of Defense announced that fighter jets were deployed to the biggest island in the Paracel chain in the South China Sea in November last year and in February this year, and that it confirmed the deployment of ground-to-air missiles and radar system in February.

The Global Times, a Chinese state-run magazine, ran an editorial on Thursday that “Woody Island is different from the disputed Spratly Islands. If the U.S. intervenes in the deployment of weapons and militarization in Woody Island, it could also meddle in the matter of Hainan.”

In addition, the Stars and Stripes mentioned that U.S. Defense Secretary Ashton Carter is planning to visit some of major strategic points within Spratly Islands where the Philippines and China are fighting over their territorial sovereignty during his tour in Asia, which will start on May 9 and last for two weeks. The media reported that Carter will reaffirm that the U.S. will consecutively dispatch U.S. forces to the five bases in the Philippines including Fort Magsaysay and Lumbia Air Base, and the five bases are only the starting point of the U.S.’s military augmentation in the Philippines.

South China Morning Post of Hong Kong reported on Thursday that China summoned its high-ranking diplomats stationed in G7 countries in protest of the announcement of a statement on East and South China Seas, which was made by the foreign ministers of the seven major economies on April 11. It is highly unusual for China to summon all its diplomats stationed in G7 countries.