Chinese bombers recently simulated an attack on a US Navy aircraft carrier in the South China Sea, the US military said on Friday, confirming previous reports from the Financial Times.
While the attack group of Navy aircraft carrier Theodore Roosevelt sailed the South China Sea last Saturday, the Chinese military sent eight H-6K bombers, four J-16 fighter jets and an anti-submarine Y- 8 flying through Taiwan and into the contested waterway.
The tracking data indicates that the US carrier strike group entered the South China Sea through the Bashi Channel while Chinese fighters flew through Taiwan’s air defense identification zone.
The next day, an unidentified military analyst from the continent told the Global Times, affiliated with the state of China, that the Chinese action may have been a training exercise aimed at “increasing the PLA’s combat capability against aircraft carriers of USA “, as the bombers could practice launching a saturation attack against US ships.
Another analyst told the paper that the flights were “likely routine operations” that had nothing to do with American ships nearby.
A Chinese Air Force H-6K bomber
Xinhua / Guo Wei via Getty Images
The Financial Times, citing people familiar with the US and allied intelligence, reported on Friday that Chinese bombers and fighters simulated an attack on the carrier group Theodore Roosevelt. Chinese bomber pilots were also reportedly heard confirming naval strike orders and simulating the firing of anti-ship missiles.
US Indo-Pacific Command spokesman Captain Mike Kafka told Insider in an e-mailed statement that “Theodore Roosevelt Carrier Strike Group closely monitored all activities of the People’s Liberation Army Navy (PLAN) ) and the Air Force (PLAAF), and at no time did they pose a threat to United States Navy ships, aircraft or sailors. ”
A defense official said the Chinese aircraft had not reached less than 250 miles from U.S. Navy ships, placing them outside the estimated range of the YJ-12 anti-ship cruise missiles carried by the H-6K. However, there was a simulated attack, the official said.
Kafka said in the INDOPACOM statement, “the PLA activities highlighted here, are the most recent in a series of aggressive and destabilizing actions.”
The spokesman said that “these actions reflect an ongoing attempt by the PLA to use its armed forces as a tool to intimidate or coerce those operating in international waters and in airspace, including its neighbors and those with competing territorial claims,” adding that “the United States will continue to fly, sail and operate whenever international law permits, demonstrating determination through our operational presence throughout the region.”
The US Navy said in a statement last Sunday that aircraft carrier strike group Theodore Roosevelt is in a routine deployment to the U.S. 7th Fleet area under the responsibility of conducting maritime security operations.
China is opposed to the regular presence of US military personnel in the South China Sea, although it has operated in the area for decades.
“It is not good for regional peace and stability that the United States often sends military ships and aircraft to the South China Sea to show its muscles,” said Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesman Zhao Lijian during a news conference. press on Monday.
The latest developments in the South China Sea highlight the challenges that the new Biden government will face in dealing with Beijing and China’s growing military power.
The new government and China have already exchanged blows on Taiwan. During Monday’s press conference, Zhao told the United States to “refrain from sending any wrong signals to the ‘Taiwan independence’ forces to avoid damaging China-US relations and peace and stability across the Strait. Taiwan “after the US State Department criticized China’s efforts to pressure Taiwan militarily, economically and diplomatically.
Chinese Defense Ministry spokesman Wu Qian said on Thursday that Chinese military activities near Taiwan are necessary and warned that it would mean war if Taiwan sought independence from China.
Speaking at the Biden administration’s first Defense Department press conference, Pentagon spokesman John Kirby reaffirmed US support for Taiwan’s defense, but said tensions “need not lead to anything like a confrontation”.