[Stengapsept]

Focustaiwan.tw | June 4, 2012

China has built a new airbase on the coast of northeastern Fujian, which is opposite northern Taiwan.
The new base is built on a long ridge and is guarded by S-300 anti-aircraft missiles. Construction of
the Shuimen airbase is almost completed. Su-30 and J-10 fighters have already been seen at the base.
The new airbase is the closest one to the disputed (with Taiwan and Japan) Senkaku Islands near
Okinawa. Military sources said Chinese jet fighters can reach the Chunxiao oil field in seven minutes
after takeoff from Shuimen and can reach the Tiaoyutais in 12 minutes.



Military intelligence sources said the long-range air defense S-300 missiles have been deployed to
counteract Japanese and U.S. warplanes such as the F-15 and the F-18.

The sources also noted that early warning radar systems installed on Taiwan proper and the air defense
radar system deployed on the outlying Dongyin islet can detect movement of aircraft at the new Chinese
airbase.



Experts said the inauguration of the Shuimen airbase has allowed China to acquire air supremacy in the
East China Sea while squeezing the maneuvering space of Taiwan's Air Force in the skies over the waters
off northern Taiwan.

Although Japan has also stepped up the expansion of airbases on its southwestern outlying islands near
the Tiaoyutai Islands in recent years, it has lagged behind China in obtaining air supremacy in the region,
according to these experts.



The uninhabited Senkakus islets are 167 kilometers northeast of Taiwan and 426 kilometers southeast of
Japan's Okinawa and have a total area of 6.3 square kilometers. They were first discovered by Chinese
fishermen in the 16th century and taken over by Japan in 1879. They are valuable now because of the 380
kilometer economic zone nations can claim in their coastal waters. This includes fishing and possible
underwater oil and gas fields.