Chinese Aircraft Carrier Challenges US’s Pacific War Strategy

China continues to challenge the United States’ maritime containment strategy in the Pacific Ocean by sending an aircraft carrier to contested waters near Japan, a key Washington ally.

Mao Ning, a spokesperson for the Chinese Foreign Ministry, said at a news conference on Wednesday that China’s naval activities “are entirely in accordance with international law and international practice” and also urged Japan to view the matter “objectively and rationally.”

Newsweek has contacted the Chinese Defense Ministry for comment by email.

Why It Matters

Under the U.S.’s island chain strategy, three defensive lines are established by leveraging U.S.-aligned territories to restrict China’s access to the Pacific Ocean. The closest one to the East Asian power is the first island chain, consisting of Japan, Taiwan and the Philippines.

China has the world’s largest navy by hull count, according to a Pentagon report, with more than 370 ships and submarines, including two aircraft carriers in active service. This naval fleet enables China to expand its military presence and reach within and beyond the island chains.

The recent deployment of the Chinese aircraft carrier comes as the U.S. Navy has sent a pair of aircraft carriers to different waters in the western Pacific Ocean this week: the USS Nimitz, operating in the South China Sea, and the USS George Washington, operating near Japan.

What To Know

The Chinese aircraft carrier CNS Liaoning, previously spotted in the East China Sea north of Japan’s southwestern Senkaku Islands, passed through the Miyako Strait southeast toward the Philippine Sea on Tuesday, the Joint Staff of the Japanese Defense Ministry announced.

The Liaoning was operating in waters southeast of Japan’s southwestern Miyako Island eight hours after sailing through the strait. It was joined by the Chinese Type 055 destroyer CNS Nanchang and the Type 052D destroyer CNS Qiqihar, both identified by their hull numbers.

Prior to its strait transit, the Chinese aircraft carrier was observed conducting flight missions while underway in the East China Sea from Sunday to Monday, the Japan Joint Staff added. Its fighter jets and helicopters carried out 90 and 30 takeoffs and landings, respectively.

According to a map provided by the Japan Joint Staff, the Chinese naval ships were tracked outside Japan’s territorial waters—which extend up to 13.8 miles from the coastline—but have remained within Japan’s 230-mile-wide exclusive economic zone since Monday.

The Japan Maritime Self-Defense Force dispatched ships and aircraft to surveil and gather intelligence on the Chinese naval task group, while Japanese fighter aircraft were scrambled in response to the flight operations of the Liaoning‘s fighter jets, the Japan Joint Staff said.

Earlier this month, a group of five Chinese naval vessels was detected transiting the Miyako Strait toward the Philippine Sea. This waterway is one of the key gateways along the first island chain that the Chinese navy uses to access the broader western Pacific Ocean.

What People Are Saying

The Joint Staff of the Japanese Defense Ministry said on Wednesday: “Yesterday, there was a risk of airspace violation in the East China Sea and the Pacific Ocean, so fighter jets from the Western Air Defense Force of the Air Self-Defense Force were scrambled to respond.”

The Chinese Defense Ministry previously commented: “Japan has been closely tracking, monitoring, and interfering with Chinese vessels and aircraft for a long time, jeopardizing the safety of Chinese vessels and aircraft and easily causing maritime and air security problems.”

What Happens Next

It was not immediately clear whether the Liaoning would carry out any military drills while operating in waters east of Taiwan, a self-governed island claimed by China.