China's most advanced bombers seen on disputed South China Sea island
A KJ-500 early warning plane along with Y-20 transport aircraft are parked on the tarmac of an airfield on Woody Island, in the disputed Paracel archipelago, which is known in China as Xisha Islands, South China Sea, May 19, 2025. MAXAR TECHNOLOGIES/Handout via REUTERS
By Greg Torode
Satellite imagery shows China landed two of its most advanced bombers in the disputed Paracel islands in the South China Sea this month - a gesture that some analysts described as Beijing's latest signaling of its growing military capabilities to rivals.
The deployment marks the first time the long-range H-6 bombers have landed on Woody Island in the Paracels since 2020, and the movement of the now upgraded aircraft comes amid tensions with the Philippines, operations near Taiwan and ahead of the region's biggest defense forum this weekend.
"China's long-range bombers don't need to be on the Paracels so it does appear to be omni-directional signalling by Beijing - against the Philippines and against the U.S. and other things that are going on," said Collin Koh, a defence scholar at Singapore's S. Rajaratnam School of International Studies.
French President Emmanuel Macron is due to open the three-day Shangri-La Dialogue forum in Singapore with a speech on Friday while U.S. Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth will outline the Trump administration's approach to the region on Saturday.
A British aircraft carrier is expected in the South China Sea on a rare deployment next month, diplomats say.Satellites captured two H-6 planes flying over the hotly disputed Scarborough Shoal, also in the South China Sea, just ahead of Hegseth's visit to the Philippines in late March, when he reaffirmed the United States' "ironclad commitment" to its treaty ally.
Regional diplomats and analysts say deployments of the jet-powered H-6 are closely scrutinised, given the way its Cold War-era airframe has been modernised to carry anti-ship and land attack cruise missiles, while some of the planes are capable of launching nuclear-tipped ballistic missiles.
A potential threat to U.S. bases in the region, H-6 bombers were deployed in wargames around Taiwan in October, and in July flew close to the U.S. mainland for the first time.
Neither China's defence ministry nor the Philippines' maritime and national security council immediately responded to Reuters' requests for comment.
China's occupation of the Paracels is disputed by Vietnam, whose foreign ministry also did not immediately respond for comment.
SOVIET DESIGN
Echoing the development of the U.S. B-52, the basic H-6 dates back to 1950s Soviet designs but it remains China's most advanced long-range bomber having been re-fitted with improved engines and modern flight systems along with its state-of-the-art weaponry.
Images provided to Reuters by Maxar Technologies show two H-6 bombers on a runway on Woody Island on May 19.
Another Maxar image on the same date show two Y-20 transport aircraft and an KJ-500 early warning plane - an aircraft that is seen as vital to China being able to control and secure increasingly complex air and sea operations.
Some analysts said the planes may have first arrived on May 17 and been present until May 23.
Ben Lewis, founder of open source data platform PLATracker, said they thought it was unlikely that the H-6s would be deployed long-term on Woody Island or be permanently based there.
"The ability to cycle forces through the bases, especially higher level assets like the H-6, provides the PLA with a force protection mechanism," he said, referring to China's People's Liberation Army.
China's Southern Theatre Command, which covers the South China Sea, maintains two regiments of the bombers, according to the London-based International Institute of Strategic Studies.
The bombers are generally kept at heavily fortified bases on the Chinese mainland, where they would have more protection in a conflict from U.S. attacks in conflict scenarios.
The U.S. maintains jet fighter wings in Japan, including on its forward deployed aircraft carrier, and on Guam, which is also home to B-52s.
China claims sovereignty over nearly all the South China Sea, including areas claimed by Brunei, Indonesia, Malaysia, the Philippines, Taiwan and Vietnam.
A 2016 ruling by an international arbitral tribunal found Beijing's sweeping claims had no basis under international law, a decision China rejects.
© Thomson Reuters 2025.
Hashtags
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
Japan Today
4 hours ago
- Japan Today
Colorado attack suspect charged with federal hate crime
Law enforcement officers detain a suspect, after an attack that injured multiple people, in Boulder, Colorado, U.S. June 1, 2025, in this picture obtained from social media. X/@OpusObscuraX/via REUTERS By Patrick Wingrove and Rich McKay A Colorado man has been charged with a federal hate crime for his alleged role in a gasoline-bomb attack on a pro-Israeli rally in Boulder that injured eight people, according to an affidavit issued by the U.S. Department of Justice on Monday. Mohamed Sabry Soliman was already facing an array of state charges, including attempted murder, after the attack on Sunday in the city of Boulder on a group seeking to draw attention to hostages seized in Hamas' 2023 attack on Israel. U.S. Attorney General Pam Bondi said the suspect would be held accountable to the fullest extent of the law for what was described as an "antisemitic terror attack." The affidavit, seen by Reuters, said Soliman, 45, had planned the attack for more than a year. Investigators found 14 gasoline-filled Molotov cocktails near where the suspect was detained. The police also found a gasoline canister in his car parked nearby and a weed sprayer filled with gasoline at the scene. Soliman told investigators that he had learned how to make the fire bombs from YouTube. The affidavit references a video posted on social media during the attack showing Soliman "shirtless, pacing back and forth while holding what appear to be Molotov cocktails." The suspect, who was being detained in lieu of $10 million bail, according to official records, told police he "wanted to kill all Zionist people and wished they were all dead," the affidavit said. The attack was the latest act of violence aimed at Jewish Americans linked to outrage over Israel's escalating military offensive in Gaza. It followed the fatal shooting of two Israel Embassy aides that took place outside Washington's Capital Jewish Museum last month. According to the complaint, Soliman lived with his wife and five children in Colorado Springs, a city about 100 miles (161 km) south of Boulder. The affidavit says that he waited until after his daughter's graduation to conduct the attack. Few other details were available about him. Todd Lyons, acting director of U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement, said Soliman had overstayed a tourist visa and had an expired work permit. Federal documents make no reference to his nationality but the New York Times said he was Egyptian, citing the Department of Homeland Security. The departments of Homeland Security and Justice did not respond to requests for comment. The Denver office of the FBI, which is handling the case, did not immediately respond to emails or phone calls seeking details in the case. Officials from the Boulder County Jail, Boulder Police and Boulder County Sheriff's Office did not immediately respond to inquiries. "There are millions of individuals like this that we are attempting to locate from the past administration that weren't properly screened that were allowed in," Lyons said during a press conference in Boston. "I will tell you that's a huge effort for ICE right now." Under former President Joe Biden, ICE prioritized arrests of serious criminals and called for officers to consider humanitarian factors when making arrests. Lyons declined to provide more information, but a Department of Homeland Security spokesperson previously said Soliman had entered the country in August 2022 and filed for asylum the following month. "The suspect, Mohamed Soliman, is illegally in our country," the spokesperson said. U.S. President Donald Trump said in a social media post that such attacks would not be tolerated. "This is yet another example of why we must keep our Borders SECURE, and deport Illegal, Anti-American Radicals from our Homeland," he said. Four women and four men between 52 and 88 years of age were transported to hospitals after the attack, Boulder police said. The attack took place on the Pearl Street Mall, a popular pedestrian shopping district near the University of Colorado, during an event organized by Run for Their Lives, an organization devoted to drawing attention to the hostages seized in the aftermath of Hamas' 2023 attack on Israel. Rabbi Yisroel Wilhelm, the Chabad director at the University of Colorado, Boulder, told CBS Colorado that the 88-year-old victim was a Holocaust refugee who fled Europe. Sunday's attack was not the first high-profile incident of mass violence in Boulder, a university town that attracts many young professionals and outdoor enthusiasts. In 2021, a gunman fatally shot 10 people, including an off-duty police officer, in a local supermarket. © Thomson Reuters 2025.
Japan Today
4 hours ago
- Japan Today
U.S. pushes countries for best offers by Wednesday as tariff deadline looms
FILE PHOTO: Cranes at the Port of Los Angeles are empty of cargo ships as shown with a drone at in San Pedro California, U.S., May 13, 2025. REUTERS/Mike Blake/File Photo By Jarrett Renshaw The Trump administration wants countries to provide their best offer on trade negotiations by Wednesday as officials seek to accelerate talks with multiple partners ahead of a self-imposed deadline in just five weeks, according to a draft letter to negotiating partners seen by Reuters. The draft, from the office of the United States Trade Representative, provides a window into how President Donald Trump plans to bring to a close unwieldy negotiations with dozens of countries that kicked off on April 9 when he paused his "Liberation Day" tariffs for 90 days until July 8 after stock, bond and currency markets revolted over the sweeping nature of the levies. The document suggests an urgency within the administration to complete deals against its own tight deadline. While officials such as White House economic adviser Kevin Hassett have repeatedly promised that several agreements were nearing completion, so far only one agreement has been reached with a major U.S. trading partner: Britain. Even that limited pact was more akin to a framework for ongoing talks than a final deal. According to the draft document, the U.S. is asking countries to list their best proposals in a number of key areas, including tariff and quota offers for purchase of U.S. industrial and agricultural products and plans to remedy any non-tariff barriers. Other requested items include any commitments on digital trade and economic security, along with country-specific commitments, according to the letter. The U.S. will evaluate the responses within days and offer "a possible landing zone" that could include a reciprocal tariff rate, according to the letter. It was unclear to which specific countries the letter would be sent, but it was directed at those where negotiations were active and included meetings and exchanges of documents. Active negotiations have been under way with the European Union, Japan, Vietnam and India, among others. A USTR official said trade negotiations were ongoing. 'Productive negotiations with many key trading partners continue at a rapid pace. It is in all parties' interest to take stock of progress and assess any next steps.' Trump's ambitious - and often frenetic - tariff policy represents a major part of his "America First" economic agenda as he seeks to reshape U.S. trade relationships, reduce trade deficits and protect American industries. Republican lawmakers are also banking on tariffs to add to federal revenue and offset the cost of the tax cut legislation now working its way through Congress. The twists and turns in Trump's tariff policies have taken investors on a rollercoaster ride. In May, U.S. stocks held their biggest rally of any month since November 2023, but that was after global indexes had cratered under the barrage of Trump's tariff announcements through February, March and early April. Stocks were little changed on Monday afternoon after Trump announced a surprise doubling of tariffs on steel and aluminum imports on Friday at an event in Pittsburgh. Meanwhile, the legality of the approach used for imposing the most sweeping of his tariffs has been cast into doubt. Last Wednesday, the Court of International Trade ruled that Trump had overstepped his authority with tariffs devised under the International Emergency Economic Powers Act, including the "Liberation Day" levies and earlier ones imposed on goods from Canada, Mexico and China related to Trump's accusations that the three countries have facilitated the flow of fentanyl into the U.S. Less than 24 hours later, an appeals court temporarily paused that decision. The tariffs at the center of the legal dispute are expected to remain in effect for now while the case plays out. The draft letter to trading partners warns them not to believe the tariffs will be sidelined if the court rules against Trump's use of the IEEPA. "I should also note that regardless of ongoing litigation concerning the President's reciprocal tariff action in U.S. courts, the President intends to continue this tariff program pursuant to other robust legal authorities if necessary, so it is important that we continue our discussions on these matters," the draft says. © Thomson Reuters 2025.
Japan Today
4 hours ago
- Japan Today
Russia sets out terms at peace talks with Ukraine
Russian delegation head and presidential adviser, Vladimir Medinsky speaks to the press, after a meeting at Ciragan Palace on the day of the second round of peace talks between Russia and Ukraine, in Istanbul, Turkey, June 2, 2025. REUTERS/Murad Sezer By Vladimir Soldatkin, Tom Balmforth and Huseyin Hayatsever Russia told Ukraine at peace talks on Monday that it would only agree to end the war if Kyiv gives up big new chunks of territory and accepts limits on the size of its army, according to a memorandum reported by Russian media. The terms, formally presented at negotiations in Istanbul, highlighted Moscow's refusal to compromise on its longstanding war goals despite calls by U.S. President Donald Trump to end the "bloodbath" in Ukraine. Ukraine has repeatedly rejected the Russian conditions as tantamount to surrender. Delegations from the warring sides met for barely an hour, for only the second such round of negotiations since March 2022. They agreed to exchange more prisoners of war - focusing on the youngest and most severely wounded - and return the bodies of 12,000 dead soldiers. Turkish President Tayyip Erdogan described it as a great meeting and said he hoped to bring together Russia's Vladimir Putin and Ukraine's Volodymyr Zelenskyy for a meeting in Turkey with Trump. But there was no breakthrough on a proposed ceasefire that Ukraine, its European allies and Washington have all urged Russia to accept. Moscow says it seeks a long-term settlement, not a pause in the war; Kyiv says Putin is not interested in peace. Trump has said the United States is ready to walk away from its mediation efforts unless the two sides demonstrate progress towards a deal. Ukrainian Defense Minister Rustem Umerov, who headed Kyiv's delegation, said Kyiv - which has drawn up its own peace roadmap - would review the Russian document, on which he offered no immediate comment. Ukraine has proposed holding more talks before the end of June, but believes only a meeting between Zelenskyy and Putin can resolve the many issues of contention, Umerov said. Zelenskyy said Ukraine presented a list of 400 children it says have been abducted to Russia, but that the Russian delegation agreed to work on returning only 10 of them. Russia says the children were moved from war zones to protect them. RUSSIAN DEMANDS The Russian memorandum, which was published by the Interfax news agency, said a settlement of the war would require international recognition of Crimea - a peninsula annexed by Russia in 2014 - and four other regions of Ukraine that Moscow has claimed as its own territory. Ukraine would have to withdraw its forces from all of them. It restated Moscow's demands that Ukraine become a neutral country - ruling out membership of NATO - and that it protect the rights of Russian speakers, make Russian an official language and enact a legal ban on glorification of Nazism. Ukraine rejects the Nazi charge as absurd and denies discriminating against Russian speakers. Russia also formalized its terms for any ceasefire en route to a peace settlement, presenting two options that both appeared to be non-starters for Ukraine. Option one, according to the text, was for Ukraine to start a full military withdrawal from the Luhansk, Donetsk, Zaporizhzhia and Kherson regions. Of those, Russia fully controls the first but holds only about 70% of the rest. Option two was a package that would require Ukraine to cease military redeployments and accept a halt to foreign provision of military aid, satellite communications and intelligence. Kyiv would also have to lift martial law and hold presidential and parliamentary elections within 100 days. Russian delegation head Vladimir Medinsky said Moscow had also suggested a "specific ceasefire of two to three days in certain sections of the front" so that the bodies of dead soldiers could be collected. According to a proposed roadmap drawn up by Ukraine, a copy of which was seen by Reuters, Kyiv wants no restrictions on its military strength after any peace deal, no international recognition of Russian sovereignty over parts of Ukraine taken by Moscow's forces, and reparations. UKRAINE TARGETS RUSSIAN BOMBER FLEET The conflict has been heating up, with Russia launching its biggest drone attacks of the war and advancing on the battlefield in May at its fastest rate in six months. On Sunday, Ukraine said it launched 117 drones in an operation codenamed "Spider's Web" to attack Russian nuclear-capable long-range bomber planes at airfields in Siberia and the far north of the country. Satellite imagery suggested the attacks had caused substantial damage, although the two sides gave conflicting accounts of the extent of it. Western military analysts described the strikes, thousands of miles from the front lines, as one of the most audacious Ukrainian operations of the war. Russia's strategic bomber fleet forms part of the "triad" of forces - along with missiles launched from the ground or from submarines - that make up the country's nuclear arsenal, the biggest in the world. Faced with repeated warnings from Putin of Russia's nuclear might, the U.S. and its allies have been wary throughout the Ukraine conflict of the risk that it could spiral into World War Three. A current U.S. administration official said Trump and the White House were not notified before the attack. A former administration official said Ukraine, for operational security reasons, regularly does not disclose to Washington its plans for such actions. A UK government official said the British government also was not told ahead of time. Zelenskyy said the operation, which involved drones concealed inside wooden sheds, had helped to restore partners' confidence that Ukraine is able to continue waging the war. "Ukraine says that we are not going to surrender and are not going to give in to any ultimatums," he told an online news briefing. "But we do not want to fight, we do not want to demonstrate our strength - we demonstrate it because the enemy does not want to stop." © Thomson Reuters 2025.
