Taking responsibility
In an historic event, on the morning of March 4, 2011, four large Chinese air force cargo aircraft landed at Beijing Nanyuan airport. They were carrying home 287 Chinese nationals from strife-torn Libya. “Finally home!” shouted the passengers, waving five-star red flags. “Long live the mother land!” “Long live the PLA!” Feng Kerong, a worker from the second bureau of Sinohydro Corporation, kneeled and kissed the ground.
The PLA Air Force deployed the aircraft at short notice after the Libya crisis escalated and Chinese citizens were deemed to be at risk. A total of 1,655 people were evacuated from Libya to Sudan, and 287 Chinese nationals were flown home. The flight course between China and Libya – about 9,500 km across five nations and six time zones – was a record for the Chinese air force transport aircraft.
It was just one of the PLA Air Force’s international humanitarian operations.
In the winter of 2010, three PLAAF cargo aircraft delivered 180 tonnes of relief materials, such as food, quilts and generators, to blizzard-stricken Mongolia.
In August 2011, the PLAAF delivered 7,000 water-proof tents to Karachi, when Pakistan was severely hit by floods.
The same year, the PLAAF took relief materials to Bangkok, during four months of flooding in Thailand.
In the summer of 2013, three PLAAF cargo aircraft delivered 69 tonnes of relief supplies, such as medicines, tents, generators and water-purifying equipment to Islamabad, Pakistan.
In a series of international humanitarian operations, the PLA Air Force has showcased China as a responsible country.
The PLAAF has been searching for missing Malaysia Airlines flight MH370 throughout the region, including the Gulf of Thailand, the Andaman Sea and southern Indian Ocean, since it disappeared on March 8.
At 6:03 a.m. on April 8, 2014, a Chinese air force aircraft took off from Perth to the search area in the southern Indian Ocean more than 2,000 kilometers away. Captain Zhang Bing, of China’s maritime aviation service, could not remember how many search missions he flew. “Out of respect for life, the Chinese air force has been searching for the missing Malaysian aircraft,” said Zhang.
He and his colleagues were almost always the first among the multinational forces to leave everyday for the search area, departing around 4 a.m..
The five aircraft deployed by China’s air force flew a total of 346 hours and covered an area of 273,600 square kilometers over almost 50 days. Royal Australian Air Force Group Commander Craig Heap, who led and coordinated the air search, said the Chinese detachment had done an "extensive visual search and provided significant contributions" of which "China should be proud".
