China has been conducting major military drills near Taiwan and other areas of the western Pacific in an effort to push back against the increasing US activity in the region.
The Chinese People’s Liberation Army’s Shandong aircraft carrier was one of 20 naval vessels spotted participating in exercises in the region since Tuesday. Taiwan’s Defense Ministry said that it detected 68 PLA warplanes and 10 PLA naval vessels in the area from 6:00 am Wednesday to 6:00 am Thursday.
According to The South China Morning Post, the PLA’s Eastern Theater Command said its pilots were “taking part in long-distance, cross-theatre exercises to practice landing and taking off from unfamiliar airports.” Zhou Chenming, a researcher from the Beijing-based Yuan Wang military think tank, said the drills would become routine.
“Like the island encirclement patrol, cross-theatre drills have become routine, taking place in the Taiwan Strait and western Pacific, which is part of combat-readiness training to prepare for the outbreak of a Taiwan contingency,” Zhou said.
More aircraft could be involved in the drills than the ones tracked by Taiwan because Beijing’s J-20 stealth fighters were involved, and they cannot be tracked by the island’s radars. A source close to the PLA told the Post the deployment of J-20s was a response to “the United States’ deployment of hundreds of F-35 Lighting II planes to the region.”
China’s major drills came after a series of US exercises in the region, including drills with Australia, Japan, and the Philippines in the South China Sea, exercises with Indonesia, and a joint US-Canadian transit of the Taiwan Strait. The US is increasing its military activity in the region in the name of deterrence, but it has brought about a heavier Chinese military presence.
From the Grateful Dead,Trouble ahead,trouble behind I just lost my mind.
See, we told you China was aggressive. They’re taking the bait too. Can’t wait.
I can’t wait until Russian and Chinese nuclear subs idle off our country’s shores. Just gives me shivers of excitement. Actualli, not. It scares the crap out of me.
You don’t have to wait. Russian nuclear-powered ballistic missile submarines (there are about a dozen) are certainly lurking well within range of mainland US targets — always. The longest-range Russian submarine-launched ballistic missiles have a range of about 10,000 miles, so they can be pretty much anywhere and hit any US targets.
China? Not sure. China has maybe half a dozen boomers. Given the obvious US hostility, I’m sure they’ll want to keep some well within range.
What makes you think they haven’t done so on a regular basis for decades?
a chinese sub popped up off los angeles coast a couple of years ago taking uncle sam totally by surprise
There is an article in antiwar concerning U.S. sanctions to prevent Russia from obtaining tech from Western nations. Silly people. Haven’t they forgotten about the “invisible hand”, capitalism, etc? More to the point, they do not get it that China has now developed tech to a level that it may not need Western product, and, will be able to assist Russia. Stronger bonds between Russia and China.
so you marched around in my yard and then got mad when i also marched around in my yard
Is this how WW3 is going to happen? China attacks Taiwan. USA and allies defend Taiwan by providing weapons and intelligence and volunteers ( a la Ukraine war ) . Then we have a world split between the central eurasian powers ( russia , china and friends like Iran and N Korea) vs the US led allies ( nato + Japan , Australia and S Korea) with the rest of the world remaining neutral.
Once again, the inexorable march of The Stupid from the Oval Office of the Oaf in Chief…
This is, yet, another example of ’cause and effect’, in terms of US Foreign Policy. Ooops?
Chinese Military Should Hold Major Drills In Eastern Pacific…!