Russia, China Send Recon Ships to Track US Carrier Near North Korea

Both Nations Concerned US Will Attack North Korea

The deployment of the USS Carl Vinson’s carrier strike group to the area around North Korea raised serious concerns among nations in the region, notably China and Russia, that the United States is going to attack North Korea at some point in the near future.

Both Russia and China have reportedly responded by deploying recon ships into the area to keep an eye on the US warships, likely trying to keep track of what exactly the ships are up to and get early warnings if anything is about to happen.

It isn’t unusual for nations to track large foreign naval deployments near their waters, but the serious concern both Russia and China have expressed about a possible US attack makes the matter particularly important to them, and likely is also a message to the US that they are keeping an eye on this deployment.

The carrier strike group was deployed at roughly the same time the US began talking about “solving” North Korea unilaterally, and while the Pentagon maintains the deployment was totally unrelated, and that the Carl Vinson was just sent there on a whim, most believe it was a calculated decision.

Author: Jason Ditz

Jason Ditz is Senior Editor for Antiwar.com. He has 20 years of experience in foreign policy research and his work has appeared in The American Conservative, Responsible Statecraft, Forbes, Toronto Star, Minneapolis Star-Tribune, Providence Journal, Washington Times, and the Detroit Free Press.