China’s navy is expanding the range of its aircraft carrier strike group operations at an unprecedented pace, confounding neighbor countries, most notably Japan.
On June 10, Japanese Defense Minister Nakatani Gen said at a press conference that the Liaoning, the first aircraft carrier of China’s People’s Liberation Army Navy (PLAN), was spotted for the first time operating in the waters east of Iwo Jima, a remote island in the Pacific, on June 7. This marked the first time a Chinese aircraft carrier has crossed the so-called Second Island Chain, which stretches from Japan to Guam and to Indonesia.
Iwo Jima is well known as a fierce battle site during the World War II.
Equally significant, Japan’s defense chief also said two Chinese aircraft carriers, the Liaoning and the Shandong, have been spotted conducting simultaneous operations in the Pacific for the first time.
When asked at the press conference what he thought China’s aims were, Nakatani replied, “China intends to improve the operational capabilities of the two aircraft carriers it currently operates and to enhance its ability to carry out operations in distant sea and air spaces.”
He said that the Japanese government made request through diplomatic channels for China to ensure that such activities do not pose a threat to Tokyo. Japan could not take a stronger stance because the two Chinese aircraft carriers were sailing in international waters and had not entered Japanese territorial waters.
Meanwhile, on June 10, the Chinese military revealed on its official account on the communications app WeChat that the Liaoning and the Shandong had conducted combat training in the Western Pacific Ocean, and released images.
PLAN spokesperson Wang Xuemeng said in a statement on the same day that formations of two Chinese aircraft carriers recently conducted training in the Western Pacific and other waters to test the forces’ capabilities in far seas defense and joint operations.
“These are routine training organized in accordance with the annual training plan, aimed at continuously enhancing the vessels’ ability to fulfill their missions, which are consistent with relevant international laws and international practices and are not targeted at any specific country or objective,” Wang said.
Meanwhile, South Korea’s Chosun Daily reported on June 7 that China’s third and newest aircraft carrier, the Fujian, had conducted its first-ever fighter jet takeoff and landing drills in a disputed area near the Korean Peninsula during May 22-28. The Fujian held drills in the Provisional Measures Zone (PMZ) of the Yellow Sea, which South Korea calls the West Sea. Seoul and Beijing’s claimed Exclusive Economic Zones (EEZs) overlap in these waters; the two countries agreed to joint management of the disputed area, dubbed the PMZ, in 2001.
Notably, the Fujian was holding drills in an area sensitive to South Korea at exactly the same time the Liaoning was conducting takeoff and landing operations involving fighter jets near the disputed Senkaku Islands in the East China Sea. The Liaoning practiced launching both fighter jets and helicopters from the sea about 240 km north of Kubajima – closer to the disputed islands than ever from – in between May 25 and 26.
The islands, which are known as the Diaoyu in China, are administered by Japan but claimed by China and Taiwan.
The Chinese navy’s latest moves appear to be aimed at preventing intervention by U.S. military forces, including United States Forces Japan and United States Forces Korea, in the event of a Taiwan emergency. To that end, the PLAN appears to be striving to build a full readiness system that will enable it to deploy Chinese surface ships, air power, and possibly submarines in the West Pacific and elsewhere.
The Joint Staff Office of the Japanese Defense Ministry announced on June 8 that the Liaoning, a Type 052D Luyang III-class destroyer (dubbed the “Chinese Aegis”), a Type 055 Renhai-class guided missile destroyer, and a Type 901 fast combat support ship were sailing in waters about 300 kilometers southwest of Minamitorishima Island in the Pacific on June 7. This area was within Japan’s EEZ near the island.
Minamitorishima, which is a remote island east of Iwo Jima, sits at Japan’s eastern-most point.
These four Chinese naval vessels, along with another Type 052D Luyang III-class destroyer and one more Renhai-class guided missile destroyer and a Type 054A Jiangkai II-class guided-missile frigate and a Type 903 combined replenishment ship, conducted takeoffs and landings of carrier-based fighter jets and helicopters from the Liaoning in the waters between Iwo Jima and Minamitorishima on June 8.
In the meantime, the Japan Maritime Self-Defense Force also confirmed that five vessels, including the Shandong, a Renhai-class guided missile destroyer, two Jiangkai II-class frigates, and a Fuyu-class fast combat support vessel, were sailing in the waters about 550 km southeast of Miyako Island of Okinawa Prefecture on June 7. The Shandong’s carrier-based fighter jets and helicopters were spotted taking off and landing on June 9.
Asked about the fact that two Chinese aircraft carriers were spotted operating in the Pacific Ocean at the same time for the first time, Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesperson Lin Jian said during a press conference on June 10 that “Chinese naval vessels’ activities in those waters are fully consistent with international law and international practices. Our national defense policy is defensive in nature. We hope Japan will view those activities objectively and rationally.”
Amid the activities of PLAN carriers, it’s important to also watch the movements of the U.S. Navy’s nuclear-powered aircraft carrier George Washington, which is deployed at Yokosuka Naval Base, south of Tokyo.
The aircraft carrier was deployed to the base in November 2024 for the first time in about nine and a half years. From May 25 to June 4, it conducted a short voyage that is believed to be a test voyage after regular maintenance to inspect the reactor and equipment in preparation for operational voyages. It then departed from the base on June 10.
Carrier qualifications (CQ) for the aircraft carrier air wing based at Marine Corps Air Station Iwakuni are scheduled to be held between around June 10 and June 16 off the coast of Kyushu. After the CQ ends, the George Washington would be expected to be tasked with long-term patrol missions in the Indo-Pacific region.
It remains to be seen whether China’s aircraft carrier strike groups will withdraw from the West Pacific at that time.
Since the end of World War II, the United States has used its overwhelming naval power to protect the world’s oceans, including the Pacific, and guarantee freedom of navigation. However, the U.S. Navy’s fleet of 6,768 ships at the end of World War II in 1945 has now fallen to less than 300 vessels, less than 5 percent of its peak.
As a result, the United States has not been able to head off problems such as the emergence of piracy in the Straits of Malacca and off the coast of Somalia, and has been forced to tolerate China’s ambitious moves to gain effective control of the South China Sea.