Accessing the biennial Airshow China gathering in Zhuhai is by no means easy – for aviation journalists, at least. There is considerable bureaucracy involved in securing a “J2” visa, and once in Zhuhai itself, hotel rates jump by five or six times during show week. It is also challenging to get affordable transport out to the show, which is a 90min drive away, and once there, the entrances change daily.

Accessing the biennial Airshow China gathering in Zhuhai is by no means easy – for aviation journalists, at least. There is considerable bureaucracy involved in securing a “J2” visa, and once in Zhuhai itself, hotel rates jump by five or six times during show week. It is also challenging to get affordable transport out to the show, which is a 90min drive away, and once there, the entrances change daily.

It is as if the organisers are unconsciously channelling the anti-access/area denial (A2/AD) strategy that is so much a part of Chinese military planning. Airpower elements of A2/AD, which broadly aims to push enemy forces a good distance from Chinese territory, have been evident at the last few editions of the show.

… Despite the show of force visitors can expect at Zhuhai, some experts are sceptical about the state of China’s fighter technology. Richard Bitzinger, senior fellow at Singapore’s S. Rajaratnam School of International Studies, brings up the perennial bugbear of Chinese aerospace: engines.