The US and China deploy aircraft carriers in the South China Sea while the Philippines prepares for joint exercises

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Meanwhile, the US and Philippines were preparing for joint exercises when the US Secretary of Defense suggested ways to deepen military cooperation between Washington and Manila after China brought ships together in disputed waters.

China’s state-run Global Times said on Sunday that the country’s first aircraft carrier, the Liaoning, steamed into the South China Sea on Saturday after completing a week of naval exercises around Taiwan. There was no official announcement of the Liaoning’s position, but the Chinese tabloid cited satellite images first reported by US media The War Zone.

The reported arrival of the Liaoning in the South China Sea came after a US Navy expedition group led by the aircraft carrier USS Theodore Roosevelt and the amphibious assault ship USS Makin Island conducted exercises in the South China Sea the day before. The two flat warships were joined by a cruiser, destroyers and smaller amphibious ships.

The ships also carried hundreds of Marine Ground Forces from the 15th Marine Expeditionary Unit, as well as their support helicopters and F-35 fighter jets.

“This expeditionary strike force fully demonstrates that we have a force that is credible, capable of responding to any contingency, deterring aggression, and providing regional security and stability in support of a free and open Indo-Pacific”, said Captain Stewart Bateshansky of the United States Navy. , commodore, Amphibious Squadron 3, said in a statement.

Global Times quoted a Chinese military expert, Wei Dongxu, as saying the US Navy exercises were provocation.

Exercises by the Chinese airline “can establish broader maritime defense positions, protect China’s coastal areas and keep US military activities in check,” the report said, citing Wei.

But a US analyst described the Liaoning’s presence in the South China Sea as normal for spring, when weather conditions are conducive to training. “The Liaoning is going down this time of year to practice air defense and live fire training,” said Carl Schuster, a former director of operations at the US Pacific Command’s Joint Intelligence Center.

Joint exercises USA-Philippines

On Monday, more than 1,700 U.S. and Filipino troops began two weeks of military exercises, Reuters reported, citing Philippine military chief Lieutenant General Cirilito Sobejana.

The exercises will focus on testing the readiness of US and Filipino forces to respond to events such as extremist attacks and natural disasters, the report said.

They come after US Secretary of Defense Lloyd Austin Sunday suggested to his Manila counterpart Delfin Lorenzana ways to deepen ties between the US and Filipino military, according to a Pentagon statement.

The proposals include ways to “increase situational awareness of threats in the South China Sea” and come after “the recent masses of maritime militia ships from the People’s Republic of China at the Whitsun Reef” in the Philippines’ exclusive economic zone. Spratly Islands. statement said.

Washington and Manila are linked by a mutual defense treaty, which officials said could play a role in the event of a Chinese military action against Philippine government ships around Whitsun Reef.

Philippine Secretary of State Teodoro Locsin Jr. On Saturday, he tweeted that he will work to turn any attack on Philippine civilian vessels into mutual defense assistance, CNN Philippines reported.

Locsin’s comments came after a Philippine news crew said last week that their chartered boat was being chased by Chinese missile boats as it approached a disputed school in the Spratly chain, according to the CNN Philippines report.

China claims almost the entire 1.3 million square mile South China Sea as its sovereign territory, and is running against claims from the Philippines and other countries. In recent years, Beijing has turned controversial elements in the region into artificial islands, complete with military fortifications.

Beijing has accused Washington and other foreign navies of fueling tensions in the region by sending in warships such as the current expedition group led by courier Roosevelt.

Taiwan tensions

The tensions stretch to the northeastern edges of the South China Sea, where the island of Taiwan is located. Beijing claims the democratic, self-governing island of nearly 24 million people as its territory, even though the two parties have been ruled separately for more than seven decades.

Chinese President Xi Jinping has vowed that Beijing will never allow Taiwan to become formally independent and has refused to rule out the use of force, if necessary, to unite the island with the mainland.

Before the Chinese aircraft carrier Liaoning moved to the South China Sea over the weekend, it had put on a show of military brawn in Taiwan for a week, according to Chinese state media. At one point, the People’s Liberation Army flanked Taiwan, with the Liaoning and its escorts in the Pacific to the east and PLA warplanes making forays into the self-proclaimed air defense identification zone in western Taiwan.

Analysts said the exercises were a warning to Taipei and Washington that Beijing would not take measures for Taiwanese independence and was willing to take military action to prevent it.

US Secretary of State Antony Blinken said on Sunday that Washington stood by its commitment to defend Taiwan.

“What really worries us is the Beijing government’s increasingly aggressive actions against Taiwan,” Blinken said on NBC’s “Meet the Press.”

“We have a serious commitment to Taiwan to defend itself. We have a serious commitment to peace and security in the Western Pacific. And in that context, it would be a grave mistake for anyone to attempt to forcibly change that status quo. , ‘Said Blinken.

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