China flexes its muscle at Singapore Airshow as US isolated

SINGAPORE, Feb 6 (Reuters) – China used this week’s Singapore Airshow to flex its military and aviation muscle, drawing heavy attention from regional delegations as Beijing sharpens its bid for influence in Southeast Asia. 

The U.S. military has demonstrated its power this year through the precision extraction of Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro and a major naval buildup around Iran. Yet President Donald Trump has been vocal in his criticism of some of U.S. allies and imposed tariffs on them, creating an opening for China.

While China’s fighter jets and commercial airliners remain far from achieving mass-market international adoption, their makers appeared more assertive and confident and enjoyed greater visibility this year at Asia’s largest air show.

The PLA Air Force’s aerobatic team made a headline-grabbing show debut of its Chengdu J-10C fighter jets, an aircraft whose export variant, the J-10CE, surged to prominence in 2025 when customer Pakistan used it to shoot down an Indian Air Force French Rafale.

Chinese state media reported the team had used mid-air refuelling to fly directly to Singapore for the high-profile deployment.

“That’s a bit of a message to say: Our power projection is growing,” said Tim Robinson, editor-in-chief of the Royal Aeronautical Society’s Aerospace magazine. 

“It’s one of the key enablers a modern air force should have. Previously people said this is one of their weaknesses.”

Inside the sweltering air show’s air-conditioned halls, Chinese state companies occupied a prime spot with brightly lit displays dominated by a 1:2 scale model of AVIC’s J-35A stealth multirole fighter. Little is known about the latest addition to Chinese air power, which was first seen domestically in 2024.

No technical data was displayed, but observers of the global arms marketplace said the message to Asia’s buyers was evident.

“That’s obviously positioned to say: if you can’t afford an F-35 or are banned from buying an F-35 we’ve got an alternative,” Robinson said.

SOUTHEAST ASIAN INTEREST

Southeast Asian defence officials crowded Chinese military and aerospace booths, underscoring Beijing’s growing pull as it aggressively markets hardware across the region. 

The show of strength landed at a politically sensitive moment, with Southeast Asian governments increasingly uneasy about U.S. security commitments amid a more isolationist Washington under Trump, analysts and Western officials said.

“We see the same delegations as before but the conversation has changed,” said a senior official at a Western arms company. 

Industry-watchers are cautious about any sudden switch of arms trade but agree the backdrop reflects the new power politics and the diversification of supply chains.

“The Chinese arms companies may think that, if other countries have lost confidence in buying American, there’s an opportunity for China,” said China defence specialist Bradley Perrett.

“But most of the U.S.’ customers, if they want to look elsewhere, will look at European, South Korean and Japanese equipment.”

Asia’s arms spending is growing apace as countries respond to a sustained build-up from an increasingly assertive China.

COMMERCIAL AVIATION PUSH

China’s efforts to penetrate the airliner market, grabbing share from Airbus and Boeing, are proceeding slowly due in part to the lengthy process of winning European certification.

But state-owned planemaker COMAC again flew the C919 narrowbody jet and advertised the future C929 wide-body in model form at the show. That is now progressing through detailed design as a Chinese project after initially exploring a joint development with Russia.

Chinese delegates said that given the Singapore venue, COMAC was prioritising potential clients from Southeast Asia, and Indonesian attendees were among those inquiring about aircraft. 

China’s efforts to rival Airbus and Boeing are a national priority though Western analysts say it will take years if not decades to establish the global footprint and marketing support that helps the industry leaders maintain entrenched positions.

But delegates noted a broadening commercial assault at the show including the market for alternative third-party spare parts, tapping into airline concerns about shortages at a time when supplies are strained across the globe.

(Reporting by Tim Hepher, Jun Yuan Yong and Julie Zhu; Editing by Joe Brock and Jamie Freed)