Chinese military drones were detected flying along the coast of Vietnam twice in the past week, as tensions in the region remain high amid the maritime disputes in the contested South China Sea.
The Chinese drone flights near Vietnam come as the Southeast Asian country is set to conduct joint coast guard training exercises with the Philippines in the South China Sea. The drills, which are scheduled to commence on Friday, seek to enhance maritime cooperation between the two countries.
On X, formerly Twitter, Duan Dang, a maritime security analyst in Vietnam, said the unmanned aerial vehicles in question were WZ-10s. His post also included flight paths within the country’s exclusive economic zone, or EEZ.
The drone flights near Vietnam took place on August 2 and 7. On each of the days, an aircraft departed from China’s Hainan Island and flew southward, according to data captured by the aircraft-tracking website Flightradar24.
The WZ-10 is a Chinese air force high-altitude, long endurance drone that features semi-stealth characteristics to be less visible to radar. The drone, which was unveiled at China’s Zhuhai Airshow two years ago as a reconnaissance electronic warfare air platform, can sustain a cruise speed of 385 miles per hour with an endurance of 20 hours.
On Monday, Reuters, citing the Vietnamese research group South China Sea Chronicle Initiative, reported that this was the first time the Chinese had made such military flights visible for tracking.
According to Dang, the Chinese drone that flew on Wednesday departed from Ledong air base on Hainan. Open-source satellite imagery shows the WZ-7, another type of Chinese military drone that has also operated in the region before, is stationed at the same base.
Newsweek could not independently verify the flight data or past records of such Chinese military flights in the region.
The defense and foreign ministries in Beijing and Hanoi did not immediately respond to Newsweek’s emailed inquiries.
A photo, taken from a video released by Chinese state media on November 7, 2022, that shows a WZ-10 unmanned aerial vehicle at the Zhuhai Airshow. In August, Chinese military drones were spotted flying along…
Chinese state media
China has recently sent military aircraft—both manned and unmanned—to contested areas in the region. On May 27, the Japanese Defense Ministry reported that for the first time, a WL-10, which is the unofficial designation of the WZ-10, was observed flying over the East China Sea.
Chinese military drones were also spotted operating over the Sea of Japan and near Taiwan, a self-ruled island that Beijing views as its own. Both the Japanese and Taiwanese militaries reported that two suspected Chinese drones circumnavigated Taiwan on Saturday for the first time.
The maritime disputes between China and the Philippines—a security treaty ally of the United States—remain unsolved. Beijing has a large presence of navy, coast guard and maritime militia in the region, and can show force and assert its sovereignty over vast areas in the contested waters.
Vessels from both sides have clashed several times over Second Thomas Shoal, a submerged reef in the Spratly Islands that is controlled by the Philippines but challenged by China. Last month, the two countries reached an understanding over the issue of Manila resupplying its outpost there.
Update, 8/7/24, 7 a.m. ET: This article was updated with additional information. » …
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