In the context of the Russia-Ukraine conflict, NATO will send 42 fighter jets around China and deploy them in Japan. In the face of NATO's military deterrence, what should the PLA do?
The latest news is that three NATO members, France, Germany and Spain, will send 42 warplanes around China in early July, and will eventually deploy these fighters at the Japan Air Self-Defense Force New Chitose Base. The base is actually a dual-use airfield in Japan, where the Japanese Air Self-Defense Force has deployed a large number of F-15J fighter jets, and this time judging from the types of fighters to be deployed by the three NATO countries, including the EF-2000 Eurofighter jets that the PLA has never fought against.
There have been foreign military aircraft that have intruded into China's airspace before, but most of the foreign fighters that the PLA has fought are American-made fighter jets, including the American-made F-15. The fighters that the three NATO countries are going to deploy in Japan this time are obviously unfamiliar to the PLA, and the 42 sorties are not a small number, and there is a tendency to overwhelm China. There is no doubt that this shows that the United States is no longer satisfied with deploying its own forces around China, and NATO does not just want to deter Russia in Europe, so under the call of the United States, NATO's black hand has gradually extended to the Asia-Pacific region. This is not groundless, as long before the outbreak of the Russia-Ukraine conflict, Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov reminded China that NATO's next "line of defense" would be moved to the South China Sea.
Judging from NATO's recent performance, NATO has indeed done the same, and warships from NATO countries have appeared more and more in the South China Sea. Japan, South Korea, and the Philippines are all countries that NATO wants to woo, and they are very close to China, and there are more or less "disputes" with China, so NATO wants to use them as the forward positions of its military deployment in the Asia-Pacific region, with the aim of further compressing China's strategic environment, carrying out military deterrence against China, and comprehensively encircling China. Some people may say that the current conflict between Russia and Ukraine is still ongoing, and NATO is gradually deploying military forces in the Asia-Pacific region, so does this mean that they ignore Russia and want to target China in an all-round way? Of course not. Although NATO's goal of defeating Russia has basically failed, it is an indisputable fact that NATO continues to aid Ukraine, and their purpose is likely to further weaken Russia while militarily deterring China and preventing the PLA from expanding its far sea range.
So how did the PLA respond to NATO's desire to show off weapons on China's doorstep? First of all, according to information from the Ministry of Defense of the Mainland, the PLA has entered a state of all-arms warfare and has organized troops to participate in joint exercises and training league activities such as "Prairie Partners" and "Falcon Shields" to continuously enhance exchanges and mutual trust between the PLA and foreign militaries and raise the level of international cooperation. Second, although NATO's 42 sorties of fighters will soon be deployed around China, the PLA Shandong ship has already led the formation to the south a few days ago and is operating in the waters near Luzon Island in the Philippines. In a sense, the movement of the Shandong is actually a response to the continuous infringement and provocation of the United States and the West in China's neighborhood.
Today's China is no longer the China of a hundred years ago, and its military and other strengths have been greatly improved, and if NATO wants to engage in military deterrence around China, the PLA will never allow it. No matter who engages in infringement and provocation in China's neighborhood, the PLA will resolutely fight back and will not be relentless.