Advertisement
China’s Liaoning aircraft carrier set for Pacific training exercise
- The warship and its escorts passed through the strategically important Miyako Strait and are expected to start the drill soon
- While China is stepping up its activities around the Taiwan Strait, US carriers are winding down their operations for Christmas
Reading Time:2 minutes
Why you can trust SCMP
33
A Chinese flotilla led by the country’s first aircraft carrier, the Liaoning, is entering the Pacific Ocean for a high seas training exercise.
The drill is taking place as American aircraft carriers either sail to the Indian Ocean or their home port for Christmas and New Year, indicating the People’s Liberation Army Navy remains on alert, defence analysts said.
The Liaoning – accompanied by the Nanchang, a Type 055 destroyer; the Rizhao, a Type 054A frigate; and the Hulun Lake supply ship – was spotted about 350km (220 miles) west of the Danjo islands on Wednesday, the Japanese defence ministry said.
The flotilla then crossed the Miyako Strait to enter the Pacific the following day.
This formation is not a full-scale carrier battle group, but it is likely that at least one more ship will join them for the drill, Lu Li-shih, a former instructor at Taiwan’s Naval Academy in Kaohsiung, said.
“The PLA used to deploy warships, sometimes just a single vessel, to pass the first island chain for different tasks, and then requested them to join a flotilla for training,” Lu said.
The first island chain, which runs from Japan to the Malay Peninsula and includes Taiwan, plays an important role in US strategic thinking for the region and Chinese forces have to pass through it to access the wider Pacific.
Advertisement