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.