China deploys fighter jets to disputed South China Sea island, satellite images show as tensions with America rise
China has deployed fighter jets to a disputed island in the South China Sea for the first time since 2017, satellite images have confirmed.
Images obtained by CNN show four J-10 jets on a runway on Woody Island, a territory currently controlled by China but also claimed by Taiwan and Vietnam.
The revelations come as China’s President Xi Jinping prepares to meet America's President Trump at the G20 summit in Japan next week.
Tensions continue between the two over China’s claim to vast swathes of the South China Sea also claimed by Vietnam, the Philippines, Brunei, Malaysia, Indonesia, and Taiwan.
Recent months have seen the US and China’s warships engaged in intense stand-offs, sparking fears of an escalated conflict.
In January, China reacted with fury after the US sent a missile destroyer through the disputed waters in a direct challenge to Beijing.
China responded by scrambling warships and aircraft to intercept the ship, which sailed within a dozen miles of the increasingly-militarised Paracel Island chain.
Analysts said that the fact the Woody Island planes had been left out in the open, and some of the equipment which is also visible, indicated that the planes had been there for up to 10 days.
Peter Layton, a former Royal Australian Air Force officer and fellow at the Griffith Asia Institute, told CNN: "They want you to notice them. Otherwise they would be parked in the hangars. What message do they want you to take from them?"
The J-10 jets have a combat range of about 500 miles, putting much of the South China Sea and vital shipping lands within reach.
They were also not carrying external fuel tanks, suggesting they were to be left on the island for a significant period and refuelled there.
Asked what Beijing’s intentions could be, Layton said: "It could be an early training deployment as part of getting the J-10 squadron operationally ready for an air defence identification zone declaration.
“This activity may be the new normal."
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An air defence identification zone is airspace in which a country monitors and controls the passage of aircraft in the interest of national security.
It may extend beyond a country’s territory and is not regulated by any international body.
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