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| End of Exercise, China's Liaoning Aircraft Carrier Leaves West Pacific |
TOKYO - China's aircraft carrier Liaoning and its strike group have left the Western Pacific region after deep sea drills that saw it make a rare approach to the US island territory of Guam.
The Joint Staff Office of the Japanese Ministry of Defense said in a statement Monday that the Liaoning strike group was seen sailing through the Miyako Strait in a northerly direction towards the East China Sea on Sunday. "From Wednesday to Saturday, the Chinese carrier-based aircraft made about 60 takeoffs and landings."
That means that during the entire period December 17 to December 31, Chinese warplanes and helicopters made about 320 takeoffs and landings. "Japan deployed military aircraft and ships to monitor the movement of the strike group," the Japanese Joint Staff Office said.
The Liaoning Carrier Flotilla and its escorts began their latest deployment in mid-December, when Japan announced its new security strategy calling China an unprecedented "strategic challenge." On December 25, the carrier was sighted 670 kilometers southeast of Okinotorishima, about 618 kilometers northwest of Guam. It is a rare approach that Chinese Communist Party newspapers have interpreted as a warning to the US over Taiwan.
Guam is home to two major US military bases housing strategic bombers and submarines. By approaching Guam, China's People's Liberation Army (PLA) has extended its reach far beyond the so-called First Island Chain to the Second Island Chain. The First Island Chain is the main island chain that surrounds the mainland of the East Asian continent, including Japan and Taiwan.
Analysts told RFA that operating the Liaoning was only a logical step after China had built its own aircraft carrier and was consistent with China's ambitions to become a major maritime power. "I hope China will deploy its aircraft carriers to more distant waters, the Indian Ocean for example," he added.