China sending fighter jets to Thailand for joint exercises

13/8/2022 18:14

        The Chinese air force is sending fighter jets and bombers to Thailand for a joint exercise with the Thai military on Sunday.
        
        The Chinese Defense Ministry said in a statement posted on its website, the training will include air support, strikes on ground targets and small- and large-scale troop deployment.
        
        China's expanding military activities in the Asia-Pacific region have alarmed the United States and its allies and form part of a growing strategic and economic competition that has inflamed tensions between the world's two largest economies.
        
        U.S. Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin visited Thailand in June as part of an effort to strengthen what he called America's "unparalleled network of alliances and partnerships" in the region.
        
        The Falcon Strike exercise will be held at the Udorn Royal Thai Air Force Base in northern Thailand near the border with Laos. Thai fighter jets and airborne early warning aircraft from both countries will also take part.
        
        The training comes as the U.S. holds combat drills in Indonesia with Indonesia, Australia, Japan and Singapore in the largest iteration of the Super Garuda Shield exercises since they began in 2009.