A week before the largest Chinese airshow and military aviation expo kicks off, the Ministry of National Defense of the People’s Republic of China offered surprisingly clear images of its Shenyang J-35 twin-engine, all-weather, stealth fighter aircraft on social media—teasing what attendees of the China International Aviation & Aerospace Exhibition can expect.
Also known as the Zhuhai Airshow or Airshow China, it has been held in even years in Zhuhai, Guangdong, since 1996—except when the global COVID-19 pandemic delayed the expo until 2021. China increasingly pulls out all the stops to highlight its latest aircraft.
What is notable this year is how increasingly open the Chinese military has been in putting the J-35 in the spotlight after years of keeping it under wraps.
Key Aircraft Details
The multirole fighter is is derived from the J-31/FC-31 Gyrfalcon series of aircraft, and produced in two variants. This includes a land-based version for the People’s Liberation Army Air Force (PLAAF), and a carrier-based variant that is believed to be optimized for catapult-assisted launch (CATOBAR) for the People’s Liberation Army Navy (PLAN).
More importantly, the stealth fighter was developed to be operated from China’s Type 003 Fujian aircraft carrier, which has been undergoing sea trials this year ahead of its expected commissioning as early as the end of next year. It is the only carrier in service apart from those operated by the U.S. Navy, to launch aircraft via a catapult.
A Major Reveal
China typically keeps its cards very close to the chest when it comes to its military hardware, and this has certainly been the case with the J-35A, and it was only this week that clear images were made public. It could be argued that Beijing is building up hype for the fighter, to highlight the great leap forward China has made in aircraft production.
That included sharing images to Chinese social media platforms before they were quickly picked up by American social media outlets including X.com.
“The PRC government and its military branches are adept at creating high-quality content for distribution on platforms like Xiaohongshu (RED), Douyin (TikTok), Weibo, and so forth,” explained Dr. Tristan G. Brown, S.C. Fang Chinese Language and Culture Career Development Professor in the Department of History at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology.
The PLA And Social Media
The People’s Liberation Army (PLA) has long employed propaganda to reach the masses. From its founding in August 1927 that included propaganda posters and leaflets and later radio and even TV, but as a recent RAND report highlighted, the PLA has come to recognize the important role of social media in modern conflict and peacetime operations.
“To some extent, China is particularly suited to using social media to make major announcements, much more so than most Western states,” suggested Dr. Cliff Lampe, professor of information and associate dean for academic affairs in the School of Information at the University of Michigan.
“China has been much more involved with their native applications than we would see in the USA, for example, and has a closer relationship with them. There are likely some downsides to that, but an upside is that they create strong channels to reach out to people—especially younger generations who have given up mainstream media,” added Lampe.
It isn’t just images of its aircraft or warships that are now getting their close-up.
“Many videos from recent years feature dashing, strong young men in uniform, equipped with the latest military technology—for the broadest possible appeal,” said Brown. “The message is one of national confidence and pride.”
