China's PLA navy was recently seen
making forays into volatile and
contested waters with its aircraft
carriers. These drills have been termed as routine
by plan but are expected to have
geostrategic implications due to the
acrimony between china and its
indo-pacific counterparts.
The chinese aircraft carrier liaoning
conducted exercises in the pacific ocean, 300 kilometers from the remote japanese
island of Kitadeto, Okinawa prefecture. This was officially announced on
december 21 by the joint chiefs of staff
of the japanese self-defense forces.
According to him the liaoning
accompanied by five more ships was
sighted in the indicated area on
december 19th. On the morning of the same day an
exercise was held there with the
participation of carrier-based aircraft, J-15 fighters and Z-9 multi-purpose
helicopters.
In particular the japanese department
published photos of the take-off of the J-15 from the deck of an aircraft
carrier. Prior to this, the ships passed between
the japanese islands of okinawa and
miyako in the direction from the east
china sea to the pacific ocean. Japan in response to these actions sent
a helicopter carrier Azumo there on a
reconnaissance mission and dispatched
its fighter jets to escort chinese the
aircraft.
Simultaneously the PLA navy's second
aircraft carrier Shandong entered the
contested south china sea to conduct
realistic combat-oriented drills in an
undisclosed location. The drills were reported to include
arrested landing of fighter jets, damage
control and maritime search and rescue, as reported by Global Times.
In fact the simultaneous drills
conducted with the two aircraft carriers
in chinese inventory have made experts
speculate dual carrier group lead drills
to be conducted in the not too distant
future. However liaoning drills could be seen as
a chinese message to japan and its
western allies.
Japan had recently announced an increase
in its defense budget owing to the
chinese threat in the region. It has also been forthcoming to taiwan's
defense against china, a proposition that
beijing views as aggression against its
one china policy.
Last week the japan maritime
self-defense force spotted a pla navy
flotilla consisting of four warships, including the aircraft carrier liaoning, the type 055 large destroyer Nan Chong, the type 054A Frigate Rejao and the type
comprehensive supply ship Hulenhu, which
then passed through waters between Okinawa island and Miyako island and
sailed south toward the pacific ocean, according to japan's ministry of defense
as reported by Global Times.
According to the press release issued by
japan, the pla carrier battle group
conducted helicopter takeoff and landing
drills from ships in the east china sea
and the pacific ocean, as well as fighter
jet takeoff and landing operations from
ships in the pacific ocean. In response to this, japanese warships
and aircraft sought to track the chinese
vessels, notably the izumo helicopter
destroyer which completed modifications
and became a de facto aircraft carrier
this year.
The chinese presence close to japan's
islands is seen as detrimental to its
own security and defenses by tokyo. This is not the first time when china
has taken this route from the east china
sea to the pacific ocean through Miyako.
In april this year as china increased
the intensity of intrusions into
taiwan's airspace and became more
belligerent towards it. This route was
used twice in the backdrop of exercises
conducted near the island. At the time a planned spokesperson had
announced that similar exercises could
be conducted on a regular basis. Liaoning's battle carrier group
transiting could be with the ambition to
conduct more drills near the taiwan
strait.
