China’s aircraft carrier leads the battle group into the western Pacific

The aircraft carrier Liaoning (left) participates in combat training screenshot south china morning post

According to South China Morning Post Day 3.5, aircraft carrier Liaoning 5 destroyers, including a Type 055 – the most powerful warship in the navy China – to escort. This task group also has a frigate and a supply ship.

Ministry of Defense of Japan reported that this task group had passed through the strait Miyako located between Miyako Island and Okinawa Island of Japan on the afternoon of May 2 to enter the western Pacific before heading south.

Chinese navy spokesman Gao Xiucheng said the warships were on a “routine training” mission. “This activity is in line with international laws and practices and is not targeted at any party,” Cao said on May 3.

The Liaoning was first discovered by Japan on May 1 in the East China Sea, west of Nagasaki. At that time, Liaoning was escorted by five ships, including the Type 055 guided missile destroyer Nanchang, three Type 052D guided missile destroyers Xining, Wulumuqi and Chengdu, and the Type 901 supply ship. Ho Ho Luan.

After that, the Type 052C guided-missile destroyer Zhengzhou and the Type 054A frigate Xiangtan joined the combat group in the waters west of the Diaoyu/Senkaku Islands on May 2. The Japanese defense ministry said the fleet then passed through the Miyako Strait.

The last time the Liaoning carrier strike group trained in the Pacific Ocean was in December 2021. At that time, the Liaoning and five other warships passed through the Miyako Strait.

The Nanchang took part in that exercise and another in April 2021. This shows that Nanchang has become a permanent member of the combat group.

Carrier Strike Group USS Abraham Lincoln The US Navy is also being deployed in the Philippine Sea, according to US Navy ship tracking information on May 2. This means that the Chinese and American carrier battle groups are not too far apart.

The operation also comes just weeks after the Chinese military held large-scale naval and air exercises in the East China Sea, which Beijing said was “in response to the false signals the United States regularly sends out to the United States.” out recently on the Taiwan issue”.

Liaoning is the first aircraft carrier of the Chinese navy. The ship was launched in 2012 and is used by the military to “train” how to operate an aircraft carrier and how other ships operate in a combat group.