China is building up its military forces facing South Korea, possibly to deter South Korea and Japan from aiding Taiwan.

Although in many respects the situation in the Taiwan Strait appears to be improving, China's military actions do not reflect this apparent trend. In fact, China has reinforced its troops on the Shandong Peninsula, opposite South Korea, where they would engage U.S. and Japanese troops should they attempt to support Taiwan in the event of a confrontation.

In the past, Shandong's Jinan Military Region was where China kept its strategic reserve force to guard against invasion by the Soviet Union. But since 1996, the region's strategic role has changed. The ground forces of this region, with the No. 54 Group Army at their core, now include a number of fast reaction units. The People's Liberation Army navy and air force units deployed in this region also have been built up; the Strategic Nuclear Submarine Force and the Air Defense Force in Shandong have been given priority attention.

Observers have noticed lately that a large proportion of the People's Liberation Army's new-generation navy and air force equipment, as well as air defense systems, has been deployed on the Shandong Peninsula. The Shandong military command's capacity for air defense operations and long-range beyond-border air strikes has been greatly enhanced.

The strategic intent behind reinforcing both the offensive and defensive postures of this command could be summarized as follows:

First of all, with two 094 SSBNs -- nuclear-powered ballistic missile submarines -- entering service, the overall combat strength of the No. 1 Nuclear Submarine Flotilla based in Qingdao, on the eastern Shandong Peninsula, has been greatly improved. As a consequence, there is a legitimate need to reinforce air defense and aerial interception capability in this region.

Secondly, in the event of a confrontation, the air force and navy aviation units stationed on the peninsula would coordinate with the combat operations of the People's Liberation Army Navy North Sea Fleet, and play the critical role of blocking U.S. and Japanese forces heading south to the Taiwan Strait.

To implement this strategy, the People's Liberation Army Air Force No. 5 Attacker Division has been armed with JH-7A fighter-bombers. This is the second JH-7A division of the Chinese Air Force after the No. 28 Attacker Division.

The airport at Weifang in central Shandong is now being drastically revamped. The No. 28 Attacker Division is armed with 24 JH-7As, and the No. 5 Attacker Division is expected to receive an equal number of JH-7As. These fighter-bombers are the latest variant, fitted with multi-role pods, KD-88 long-range air-to-ground missiles and Y-91 anti-radiation missiles.

With a combat radius of 1,500 kilometers -- 930 miles -- the JH-7A fighter-bombers deployed on the Shandong Peninsula theoretically could cover all the U.S. military bases in South Korea and the Taiwan Strait. If these fighter-bombers were all transferred to the Wendeng military airport, most of Japan's Kyushu Island would be within their combat radius.

Next: Further combat aircraft deployments

(Andrei Chang is editor in chief of Kanwa Defense Review Monthly, registered in Toronto.)