KEY POINTS
- Pakistan deployed Chinese-made J-10C fighter jets
- Taiwanese military stands no chance against J-10C: The Global Times
- J-10Cs’ success might deter US from intervening in the Taiwan conflict: Hu Xijin
ISLAMABAD: Earlier this month, Pakistan’s downing of six Indian fighter jets reverberated far beyond South Asia, reaching as far as Taiwan and the South China Sea.
During the conflict with India, Pakistani forces deployed Chinese-made J-10C fighter jets and reportedly used Chinese PL-15 missiles to shoot down Indian aircraft, according to the New York Times.
The J-10C, hailed in Chinese media as a symbol of national pride, had never seen combat before, raising questions about its effectiveness. With this deployment, Chinese commentators claimed those doubts were now resolved.
Though neither the Chinese nor Indian governments have confirmed the details, China’s state broadcaster later stated that J-10C jets had recently “achieved combat results,” tying it to the Indo-Pak conflict via social media hashtags.
China’s military advancement
Zhou Bo, a retired senior Chinese military officer, wrote that the conflict served as a demonstration of China’s military advancement.
“This is a message for the world on how far China’s defence industry has come,” he noted.
Chinese pride was further fuelled by reports suggesting that some Indian jets allegedly shot down were French-made, feeding a narrative that framed the skirmish as a proxy test of Western versus Chinese military technology.
India has been aligning more with Western suppliers, while Pakistan has increasingly turned to China for defence equipment.
According to Pakistani officials and defence analyst Syed Muhammad Ali, Pakistan used not only J-10C jets but also Chinese air-defence systems and PL-15 long-range missiles, which they claimed successfully hit targets. India, however, denied these claims.
Combat experience
China’s lack of recent combat experience—having not engaged in a major war in over four decades—has long been a concern in Beijing.
But under President Xi Jinping, military modernisation has been a key priority. China’s defence spending continues to rise, and it is now the fourth-largest arms exporter globally.
Some analysts said that the Pakistan-India conflict proved that Chinese weapons are approaching parity with Western arms.
Hu Xijin, former editor of The Global Times, argued that the J-10C’s success might deter the US from intervening in Taiwan.
India later claimed it had “bypassed and jammed” Pakistan’s Chinese-made air-defence systems in just 23 minutes.
