[Bus Insider] As the US and South Korean militaries worked together on the largest-ever version of their annual air-power exercise on the Korean Peninsula, China did something that suggests it would consider backing up North Korea in the event of war.
On Monday, the same day the exercise started, a spokesman for China's air force said it had staged exercises along "routes and areas it has never flown before" with surveillance aircraft over the Yellow and East seas near the Korean Peninsula, according to the South China Morning Post.
While China needs to exercise its constantly expanding and modernizing military, this exercise most likely had another purpose.
"The timing of this high-profile announcement by the PLA is also a warning to Washington and Seoul not to provoke Pyongyang any further," Li Jie, a military expert based in Beijing, told the Post, using the abbreviation for the Chinese People's Liberation Army.
With a record 24 US stealth aircraft in South Korea for the Vigilant Ace exercises, China's move sends a clear message. |