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| China Deploys Fighter Jets to Thailand |
BANGKOK - The Chinese Air Force sent fighter jets and bombers to Thailand for joint combat exercises with the Thai military on Sunday (14/8/2022). The two countries will hold joint maneuvers while Indonesia is in combat training with the United States and its allies.
China's Ministry of Defense, on its website, said the joint combat exercises with Thailand would include air support, strikes on ground targets and deployment of small and large-scale troops.
China's expanding military activities in the Asia-Pacific region have alarmed the United States and its allies and are part of a growing strategic and economic rivalry that has inflamed tensions between the world's two largest economies.
US Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin visited Thailand in June as part of efforts to strengthen what he called America's "unrivaled network of alliances and partnerships" in the region. The "Falcon Strike" combat drill will be held at the Royal Thai Air Force Base in Udorn, which is near the Laos border.
Thai fighter jets and airborne early warning aircraft from both countries will also take part. China and Thailand prepare for joint maneuvers as Indonesia holds joint combat exercises with the US, Australia, Japan and Singapore in Indonesian territory. The massive combat exercise "Super Garuda Shield" has been going on since last week.
China previously carried out large-scale war games near Taiwan in response to a visit by US House of Representatives Speaker Nancy Pelosi to the self-governing island, which China claims as its territory.
Kurt Campbell, U.S. President Joe Biden's top adviser on the Indo-Pacific, said Friday that the U.S. would take decisive steps to support Taiwan, including sending warships and planes through the 160-kilometre (100-mile) wide waterway separating Taiwan and China.
"We will continue to fly, sail and operate where international law allows, consistent with our longstanding commitment to freedom of navigation," he said in a phone call with reporters. “And that includes conducting standard air and sea transits through the Taiwan Strait in the next few weeks.”