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The Chinese navy has launched unprecedented dual carrier missions as it seeks to improve combat readiness and amid escalating tensions between Beijing and Washington.
Maritime authorities in Dalian, in the northeast, announced on Friday a no-entry zone for civilian vessels in the Bohai Sea and the northern part of the Yellow Sea for seven days.
The Liaoning mission follows reports that China’s newest aircraft carrier, the Shandong, left Dalian port and headed for training exercises in the Bohai Sea last week. Maritime authorities closed the area in the Bohai Sea, off the coast of Leting County in Hebei Province, to civilian vessels for three weeks starting on September 1 due to “military missions.”
While the two carriers are on separate missions, it has been speculated that they might also be planning to meet for joint exercises, as the two areas are only about 300 km (186 miles) apart.
It is the first time the two warships have conducted drills at the same time since the Shandong, a Kuznetsov-class aircraft carrier not yet ready for combat, entered service in December.
Song Zhongping, a Hong Kong-based military commentator, said that the People’s Liberation Army would seek to boost dual carrier operations.
“Given the fact that China now has two carrier strike groups, it needs to improve its defense and support capabilities,” Song said. “The PLA is trying to increase combat readiness and carriers would be part of any war [to take control of] Taiwan, so training exercises are needed, whether they are single-operator or two-operator operations. “
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Relations have deteriorated between Taiwan and Beijing, which views the autonomous island as part of its territory, to be returned to the mainland fold, by force if necessary.
Beijing is also fighting Washington on many fronts, including in the Indo-Pacific region, where their strategic rivalry has intensified.
While China’s two carriers are not as sophisticated as America’s nuclear-powered Nimitz-class fleet, they are believed to have undergone upgrades to their original Soviet-era designs. The Kuznetsov-class Liaoning, which entered service in 2012, can carry up to 24 J-15 fighter jets, while the Shandong can carry up to 36, as well as helicopters and other fighter jets.
The latest Chinese military drills follow several high-profile exercises in the Yellow and Bohai Seas in recent weeks amid a surge in saber rattling as tensions with the United States rise.
Last month, the PLA fired two missiles, a double-capacity DF-26B missile from the northwestern province of Qinghai and a DF-21D from eastern Zhejiang, in an area between Hainan Island and the disputed Paracels in the Sea. of South China.
The missiles were launched a day after China said a US U-2 spy plane had entered a no-fly zone without permission during a Chinese naval drill in the Bohai Sea.
Meanwhile, the US Navy has also conducted a number of exercises in the region in recent months, including sending two aircraft carriers to the South China Sea for drills in July that overlapped with the exercises. Chinese and sparked a protest from Beijing.
This article China sends aircraft carriers on unprecedented dual missions in Bohai, the yellow seas first appeared in South China Morning Post
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