Japan’s Ministry of Defense (MoD)  issued a statement that China's PLAAF sent four Xian H-6K long-range bombers, one Shaanxi Y-8 electronic countermeasures aircraft, one Tupolev Tu-154MD electronic intelligence plane, and at least two Sukhoi Su-35 multirole fighter jets through international airspace between the Japanese islands of Okinawa and Miyako in the East China Sea on March 23 as part of a military exercise. The Japan Air Self-Defense Force (JASDF) scrambled Mitsubishi F-15J all-weather air superiority fighters in response.  According to the Japanese MoD, Japanese airspace was not violated. A PLAAF spokesperson said that the Chinese aircraft “carried out a real combat training mission in the West Pacific via the Miyako Strait,” in order to improve the PLAAF’s “high-sea combat ability.” The spokesperson added that the exercise was in line with international law and practice. 

At the same time, another group of PLAAF aircraft that included Su-35s and H-6Ks conducted a joint combat patrol in the South China Sea “practicing aerial maneuvers and strike tactics at sea.”. This was the second time that the PLAAF has sent its Su-35S, an improved fourth generation, twin-engine, multirole fighter aircraft and the latest variant of Russia’s Flanker-series, to the South China Sea for combat drills.

(Comment: The Su-35S is one of the PLAAFs most advanced fighter jets. It “features an export-standard radar system — the Irbis-E passive-electronically scanned-array radar, capable of tracking up to 30 targets simultaneously and purportedly able to engage up to eight — an electronic warfare and communications suite, as well as a newly integrated receiver for the domestically-built BeiDou satellite navigation system.” China took delivery of 14 out of a total order of 24 Su-35s from Russia in late 2016 and 2017. The remaining ten aircraft are expected to be delivered this year.)