CNN
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A US aircraft carrier strike group began operations in the South China Sea on Thursday, the Navy said, amid mounting tensions with Beijing.
Two Chinese ships are already tracking the US group, a defense official told CNN. It consists of an aircraft carrier, a guided-missile cruiser, and three guided-missile destroyers.
According to its commander, the Nimitz carrier strike group, which has lethal and non-lethal capabilities “across all axes and all domains, from space to the seafloor,” entered the South China Sea for the first time as part of the current deployment.
The deployment comes as the US military builds up its presence in the region to deter China as it rapidly modernizes and expands its military and nuclear capabilities.
This week, the United States and Japan announced they would strengthen the U.S. Marine Corps presence on Okinawa. The two allies have also announced a series of other initiatives designed to bring forces closer together in the face of what they see as China’s growing assertiveness in the region.
“We share a common vision with Japan of maintaining a free and open Indo-Pacific, and everything we do points in that direction,” Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin said Wednesday. Brinken and his Japanese counterpart in Washington, said in a meeting with Secretary of State Anthony on .
Three weeks ago, Chinese J-11 fighters intercepted US RC-135 reconnaissance aircraft in the South China Sea. An RC-135 riveting his joints was forced to take evasive action when a Chinese jet approached within 20 feet of a large, low-speed reconnaissance aircraft, the US said.
The PLA countered with its own account of the interception, “suddenly changing its flight attitude” in a “dangerous approach maneuver”, even though the Chinese military video showed nothing of the kind. claimed to be an American aircraft.
The encounter highlighted the inherent tensions associated with the South China Sea. There, Beijing is using its own militarized artificial islands to advance its sovereignty claims not recognized by the United States or its allies.
China’s navy routinely follows U.S. warships operating in the South China Sea, even claiming to occasionally drive off U.S. vessels that have left disputed waters.
In November, China claimed it had kicked the USS Chancellorsville out of the South China Sea after it “illegally invaded” it without Beijing’s approval, citing “the United States as the real producer of security risks in the region.” There is.
The United States responded bluntly, calling China’s narrative “false” and “misrepresenting legitimate U.S. maritime operations and claiming excessive and illegal maritime claims at the expense of its Southeast Asian neighbors.” It is the latest in a long series of actions by the People’s Republic of China.”
The U.S. guided-missile cruiser was operating in the South China Sea as part of a freedom of navigation operation under international law, the Navy said.
“All nations, large and small, should be able to secure their sovereignty, be free from coercion, and pursue economic growth in line with accepted international rules and norms,” the United States said at the time.
