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To improve the quality of its missions in the South China Sea, China has made improvements to some of the equipment used by its world-class military. The latest update was detected at the base of a naval aviation regiment under the Southern Theater Command of the People’s Liberation Army (PLA).
China’s KJ-500 airborne early warning and control system has now been upgraded ahead of what is expected to be a major showdown with the US.
The system now has the addition of a probe that can allow the aircraft to receive aerial refueling and increase its range and endurance.
The new airborne allows China to carry out early warning operations, analysts explained Monday.
The latest update was seen in an image recently published by China Military Online, the English-language website of the Chinese military.
Increasing its endurance means that the aircraft will have greater combat competence as the fears of World War III reach their peak.
Speaking to the Global Times on Monday, Fu Qianshao, a Chinese military aviation expert, said the new plane also features early warning radar systems that are better than those in the United States.
But China’s drive to upgrade its military is seen as a threat to other countries that have overlapping claims over parts of the South China Sea, of which China claims to have a historical ownership right over almost all of it.
DWF Head of Transportation Jonathan Moss has explained that there is a real risk of further disputes over ownership of the waters.
Talking to Express.co.ukMoss said: “I think there is definitely a risk of total conflict.
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Pompeo said that “Beijing’s claims on offshore resources in most of the South China Sea are completely illegal, as is its intimidation campaign to control them.”
In a statement he added: “The world will not allow Beijing to treat the South China Sea as its maritime empire.
“The United States supports our allies and partners in Southeast Asia in protecting their sovereign rights over offshore resources, consistent with their rights and obligations under international law.
“We stand with the international community in defense of the freedom of the seas and respect for sovereignty and reject any push to impose ‘power does right’ in the South China Sea or in the region in general.”
Gregory Poling, senior fellow for Southeast Asia and director of the Asia Maritime Transparency Initiative at the Center for Strategic and International Studies, called Mr. Pompeo’s words a “quite significant” move.
He said: “What the US said basically is that we are going to remain neutral on the questions of who owns what island or rock in the South China Sea, but we are no longer going to be silent on China’s illegal claims on the waters. “
Speaking to CNN, he added: “It allows the United States to very clearly characterize China’s activities as illegal, not only destabilizing or useless, but also to say that this is illegal.
“That helps partners like Vietnam and the Philippines, and it’s going to put pressure on other countries, the Europeans, for example, to step off the fence and say something themselves.”
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