Recently, Taiwan’s defense experts disclosed that the U.S. aircraft carrier Roosevelt and the Chinese aircraft carrier Liaoning, which are facing off in the South China Sea, are only 400 kilometers away at the closest point and are within the range of firepower. The current escalation of tensions in the Taiwan Strait continues.
According to Radio Free Asia, Ma Zhenkun, director of the Institute of Chinese Communist Party Military Affairs at National Defense University in Taiwan, said in a seminar on “The U.S.-Japan summit and the Taiwan Strait” on April 19 that the Chinese Liaoning and the USS Roosevelt “The two sides are only 400 kilometers away from each other, and “both are within the range of firepower of the aircraft carrier formations of both sides”.
Ma Zhenkun said that in the past, when the Chinese Liaoning was leaving its homeport and going to the sea for exercises, if there was a U.S. carrier formation in East Asia, it would usually keep one south and one north, that is, if the U.S. carrier formation was in the South China Sea, the Liaoning was in the In other words, if the U.S. carrier group is in the South China Sea, the Liaoning will be in the East China Sea, or in the West Pacific Ocean at Miyako Island or in the eastern waters of Taiwan, with some separation between the two sides.
However, the Communist forces have no intention of causing trouble at the moment. Ma Zhenkun said: “Although so far the frequency of the Communist forces (activities) is increasing, observe the activities of the Communist forces in the Taiwan Strait area, there is no active intention to create trouble. Previously, the Liaoning formation crossed the Miyako Strait from the East China Sea and then came in to the South China Sea, the U.S. military aircraft and ships approached and followed, and the Liaoning formation did not have a strong repulsion as.”
Tensions continue to rise in the Taiwan Strait
Ma Zhenkun said: “The tension in the Taiwan Strait continues to rise without change, and the vicious spiral has not disappeared. Not only does the military tug-of-war between the U.S., China and the two sides of the Taiwan Strait continue unabated, but the intensity is increasing.”
While Chinese military aircraft are frequently disturbing Taiwan, the Liaoning entered the Western Pacific on April 4, and on April 5, the Chinese Navy announced that the Liaoning had conducted a drill in the waters around Taiwan.
After the USS Roosevelt entered the South China Sea on April 4, the USS Muscatine and other U.S. destroyers followed the Liaoning, while “The USS Roosevelt conducted flight drills in the South China Sea and joint military exercises with Malaysia, the Philippines and other countries around the South China Sea.
Ma Zhenkun cited a report by Forbes columnist and military journalist David Axe, who said that the U.S. Air Force recently sent four F-16s from Misawa Air Base in Japan to fly directly to the Bus Strait in southern Taiwan after refueling, to meet with the USS Roosevelt. The U.S. Air Force also recently sent four F-16s from Misawa Air Base in Japan to join the USS Roosevelt in the Bus Strait in southern Taiwan after refueling.
In addition, the Taiwan Air Force will take the 30 nautical miles of airspace out from the sea as the “bottom line” of air defense, not allowing the Communist forces to approach within 30 nautical miles.
Scholars: China’s “muscle show” component
A few days after the Liaoning entered the Western Pacific, CCTV released images of the interior cabin and cockpit of another aircraft carrier, the Shandong. It is reported that the “Shandong” will enter service in December 2019.
The Liaoning, the first aircraft carrier of the Chinese Communist Party, is the second ship of the Soviet Navy’s Kuznetsov aircraft carrier Varyag, which was officially commissioned on September 25, 2012 after a 10-year refit. It was officially commissioned on September 25, 2012 after a 10-year refit. “The Liaoning is not part of any fleet or battle group, and its role is to serve as a training ship, mainly for sea-going and personnel training.
Voice of America cited an analysis by Sam Houston State University assistant professor of political science Weng Juzhong on April 18, saying that the Chinese Communist Party invited the media to film the ship for propaganda purposes, and therefore the “show of muscle” was a major factor. “The Chinese navy is not yet strong enough to confront the United States.
Professor Weng believes that if the Chinese navy wants to form a dual carrier group, it is mainly aimed at the United States, because only the United States needs the CCP to use dual carriers for confrontation.
He said that the U.S. is also prepared. The U.S. usually has only one carrier in the Seventh Fleet, which is mainly based in Okinawa, Japan, but recently there is news that the Third Fleet west of the Indian Ocean is coming to support the Seventh Fleet, and late last year the U.S. Navy proposed to add another fleet to the original Second to Seventh Fleets, based in Singapore.
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