J-20 jets, China's most advanced stealth fighter jets powered by domestic engines, made their debut at the opening ceremony of the China Airshow 2021 in the host city Zhuhai, South China's Guangdong Province on Tuesday.Photo: Cui Meng/GT

The J-20, China's most powerful, domestically developed stealth fighter jet, has started to patrol the East China Sea and the South China Sea in routine training sessions, and experts said on Wednesday that the move will enable the advanced warplane to better safeguard China's airspace security and maritime interests.

With the J-20 switching to use domestically developed engines, it has become a training routine that this type of aircraft conducts combat patrols in the East China Sea and alert patrols in the South China Sea, Ren Yukun, head of the discipline inspection and supervision team and a member of the leading Party group at state-owned Aviation Industry Corporation of China (AVIC) (the J-20's manufacturer), said at a press conference on Tuesday.

Ren's announcement came after General Kenneth Wilsbach, Commander of the US Pacific Air Forces, said in mid-March that US F-35 stealth fighter jets recently had a close contact with China's J-20 stealth fighter jets over the East China Sea.

The People's Liberation Army (PLA) Air Force shoulders the sacred duty of defending national security in China's airspace. It must be emphasized that when it comes to defending national sovereignty and security, the PLA will always be ready and capable of wielding its sword, said Senior Colonel Wu Qian, a spokesperson at China's Ministry of National Defense, at a regular press conference on March 31, when asked to comment on Wilsbach's remarks.

It is certain that the J-20, as advanced new equipment, will appear on potential battlefields, including at sea, particularly when advanced warplanes of the US like the F-35 and the F-22 have been flying near China, Song Zhongping, a Chinese military expert and TV commentator, told the Global Times on Wednesday.

"Our advanced fighter jets must meet them head on to safeguard the country's airspace security and maritime interests," Song said.

Wang Li, a J-20 pilot at the Wang Hai Air Group affiliated with the PLA Eastern Theater Command Air Force, said on China Central Television (CCTV) on March 5 that he had participated in routine maritime management and control missions with the J-20. It hasn't yet been publicly disclosed if the PLA Southern Theater Command has been equipped with the J-20.

The Eastern and Southern Theater Commands are focal points of the PLA, as they are vital to combat preparedness in the Taiwan Straits and the South China Sea, Song said.

That is why the advanced J-20 should be commissioned there as soon as possible to generate combat capabilities, Song opined.

Another member of China's "20" aircraft family, the Y-20, recently carried out a mission to deliver regular military goods to Serbia, with observers saying it could be the largest overseas operation yet by the Chinese domestically developed large transport plane.

The Y-20s participating in the mission flew 8,000 kilometers from China to Serbia, flying over some NATO countries amid some regional unease, so it is obvious what kind of challenges they had to face, Zhou Guoqian, a spokesperson at AVIC said on Tuesday, CCTV reported on the day.

But the aircraft passed the test, Zhou said. "Our Y-20 is a very capable aircraft indeed."