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Chinese warplanes armed with missiles held training missions near Vietnam in a new response to US assertions to send more naval ships to sail through an area close to artificial islands being developed by China in the disputed South China Sea to assert freedom of navigation.
The photos, released by the navy's official website, showed fighter jets training while armed with missiles.
The jets belonged to the South Sea Fleet and the training was carried out from an airstrip in the South China Sea, Hong Kong-based South China Morning Post reported.
The navy did not name the airstrip, but military experts said it was on Woody Island in the Paracels, which China calls as Nansha islands in the South China Sea.
They also said the exercise was Beijing's latest response to the US guided-missile destroyer USS Lassen sailing within 12 nautical miles of Subi Reef last Tuesday.
Subi Reef - located 600km from Woody Island - is one of seven reefs and rocks in the Spratlys chain on which China has built artificial islands.
"Both the defence ministry and foreign ministry have said China would have answers when its sea rights were breached.
Such statements need to be followed by real actions," retired Chinese general Xu Guangyu said.
"It's a signal China sent to the US that it is serious about its claims. This is the minimum level of response China should have, or it will fail the expectation of its people," he was quoted as saying by the daily.
State-media reported late on Thursday that the PLA Navy had carried out a "realistic confrontation exercise" in the South China Sea.
