China unveils stealth fighter as Barack Obama visits Beijing

China showed off its new stealth fighter jet at an air show on Tuesday, just as Barack Obama was visiting Beijing for a summit of Pacific nations - and the timing is no coincidence, analysts say.

Obama is now in Myanmar for a US-Asean meeting but the decision to unveil the J-31 jet when he was in the country sends a clear signal to the US: China is increasing in confidence and military clout, says CNN.

The jet was flown publicly for the first time at the Zuhai air show, without weapons being loaded. It was not left on the tarmac for inspection, unlike other exhibits. While it is Chinese-designed and made, the engines are Russian.

The Week

Escape your echo chamber. Get the facts behind the news, plus analysis from multiple perspectives.

SUBSCRIBE & SAVE

Sign up for The Week's Free Newsletters

From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.

From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.

Sign up

Analysts predict China will sell the jet to countries who are not able to buy the American-made F-35 fighter.

The Financial Times quotes Li Yuhai, deputy general manager of the corporation who produced the plane. He said: "It is our dream to break the monopoly that foreign countries have on new-generation jet fighters. The J-31 will also be a flagship product for us in the international arms market."

China is embroiled in a number of territorial disputes with Japan and other neighbours in the East and South China Seas, says the FT. The new jet will allow it to "project power further out" over that ocean.

There's just one problem, says CNN: the plane isn't very good. It's fly-past showed that it 'bleeds' too much energy, losing altitude when it enters a turn - a defect in design that rival jets do not suffer.