'Heroic Sacrifice' Of Pilots In Burning Plane

Two Chinese pilots who were killed during a training exercise have been lauded for their "heroic sacrifice" after they steered their burning plane away from a residential area.

Flight instructor Jiang Tao was giving Lu Pengfei a flying lesson when the aircraft's engine caught fire.

Their low altitude meant that parachuting was not an option, and the plane crashed into a forest in Liaoning, a province in China's northeast.

The pair's deaths were confirmed on Weibo, a social network, by the People's Liberation Army – which posted photographs of the men in their dress uniforms.

"After successfully flying the plane to avoid a densely populated area and their height being too low to parachute, they made a heroic sacrifice," it said in the post.

Meanwhile, Beijing has announced plans to boost the country's military reach, with its air force to shift its focus "from territorial air defence to both defence and offence".

China's State Council also criticised neighbouring countries which have taken "provocative actions" on its reefs and islands in the disputed South China Sea.

It pledged that the navy will place a greater emphasis on "open seas protection".

In a thinly-veiled reference to Washington, a strategy paper added: "Some external countries are also busy meddling in South China Sea affairs.

"A tiny few maintain constant close-in air and sea surveillance and reconnaissance against China."