In this recent month, the U.S. and Chinese navies have been engaged in a series of mutually deterrent confrontations in the vast waters of the Eastern Hemisphere, with maritime standoffs between the two sides reaching as far north as Japan and Taiwan, as far south as Australia and Indonesia, and as far west as the eastern Indian Ocean and east of the Philippines. Such a range shows that the center of the maritime confrontation between the two sides is the South China Sea, and this situation marks the escalation of the Cold War between China and the United States in steps. Such a wide range of maritime confrontation, which has never been seen since World War II, deserves attention.
I. The Liaoning aircraft carrier formation cruise and the U.S. military follow-up
Recently, the Chinese Communist Party launched the Liaoning aircraft carrier formation to show the threat to Japan, Taiwan and the Philippines. It departed from the Qingdao base at the end of March, crossed the sea between Miyako Island and Ishigaki Island in the northeast of Taiwan, entered the eastern waters of Taiwan, and then entered the Philippine Sea to the east of the Bus Strait to deter the Philippines; then the Liaoning carrier formation turned back north and stayed in the sea near Hainan Island. At this time, the USS Roosevelt carrier formation was traveling from the southwest to the northeast, and the two carriers were about 2 hundred nautical miles apart, within the attack range of the carrier aircraft.
“When the Liaoning carrier formation moved out, the destroyer USS Mastin of the 71st Task Force and the 15th Destroyer Squadron of the U.S. 7th Fleet also departed from Yokosuka Port in Tokyo Bay, Japan at the same time. The U.S. Navy’s official website released a report on the “Mastin” destroyer. The U.S. Navy released a photo of the Mastin taken in the Philippine Sea on April 4, when the Mastin and Liaoning were sailing side by side, about 1 kilometer apart. The Liaoning’s outboard number and the carrier aircraft on the deck can be seen clearly in the photo.
At that time, the Liaoning carrier formation was heading south to the Palau Islands. The Palau Islands, a small island nation but a U.S. ally, are located just outside the Celebes Sea in the eastern Philippines, one of three shipping lanes where Chinese nuclear submarines threaten the United States from the “deep sea bastion” of the South China Sea to the east. The U.S. Secretary of Defense visited the Palau Islands last August to discuss military cooperation against the Chinese Communist threat; the U.S. then sent radar and missile systems to the Palau Islands and sent a Coast Guard ship there to assist with maritime patrols.
Although the U.S. destroyer followed the Liaoning at close range and the U.S.-China carrier formation came close for the first time in the South China Sea, both sides adhered to the standard pattern of naval confrontation under the Cold War, which is that both ships follow the code of innocent navigation on the high seas, and neither side can aim their guns or missiles at the other, nor activate their gunfire guidance radars or laser targeting devices. Both sides’ aircraft could not take off to threaten each other’s carrier formations.
The USS Roosevelt’s carrier formation’s long-range cruise and multi-services exercises
The Chinese Communist Party’s Indo-Pacific strategy is to seize international waters in the South China Sea, build naval bases on reefs, and then send nuclear submarines from there to Indonesia and Australia, and then eastward into the Central Pacific to threaten the U.S. mainland with intercontinental nuclear missiles. The U.S. military’s countermeasure is to intensify patrols in the South China Sea and Indonesia, Australia and the East Indian Ocean as a deterrent to put pressure on the Chinese Communist Party, and to give these countries the confidence they need to know that the Chinese Communist Party will not be able to do whatever it wants in the South China Sea and around Indonesia and Australia.
In January, the USS Roosevelt carrier group departed Guam and entered the South China Sea through the Bus Strait, then joined the Nimitz carrier group from the Middle East for exercises in the southern South China Sea; then, the USS Roosevelt “Then, the Roosevelt carrier group went northeast through the Bus Strait, south along the eastern part of the Philippine islands, southward across the equator to the northwest of Australia; then around to the southern part of Indonesia, south of the equator, and into the Indian Ocean in the southern hemisphere; then it cruised northwest along Sumatra Island in Indonesia to the western exit of the Strait of Malacca, and then turned around It then cruised northwest along Indonesia’s Sumatra Island, reached the western exit of the Strait of Malacca, then turned around and entered the Strait of Malacca in a southeastern direction, and reached the South China Sea again in early April.
On April 6 and 7, the Roosevelt carrier group held exercises with the Royal Malaysian Air Force in the South China Sea; on April 9, the Roosevelt carrier group met with the Makin Island amphibious assault group transferred from the Middle East. On April 9, the “Roosevelt” carrier group and the “Makin Island” amphibious assault group from the Middle East conducted a joint combat exercise in the South China Sea. Previously, the USS Roosevelt and the USS Nimitz were conducting joint exercises in the South China Sea, which is a rare arrangement for the U.S. Navy; while the USS Roosevelt and the “The joint exercise between the USS Roosevelt carrier group and the USS Makin Island amphibious assault group in the South China Sea is the first time in history.
This circular long-range cruise of the USS Roosevelt carrier group, which started from the South China Sea, went in a big circle and returned to the South China Sea, is carrying out two deterrence missions: one is to deter the Chinese Communist Navy from trying to occupy the international waters of the South China Sea; the other is to deter the Chinese Communist Navy from conducting undersea hydrographic surveys in the Java Sea of Indonesia and the Indian Ocean to the west, and from surveying routes for nuclear submarines. The second mission is to deter Chinese maritime research vessels and submarines operating in the Java Sea of Indonesia and the Indian Ocean to the west, which are engaged in undersea hydrographic surveys, surveying routes for nuclear submarines.
“The USS Roosevelt carrier group left the South China Sea on April 12 and returned to its base in Guam. According to the latest news from the U.S. Navy’s official website, the carrier group spent only one day in Guam on April 16 to replenish supplies and rotate some of its crew before returning to the South China Sea on April 19. “The carrier group of USS Roosevelt abandoned its normal refurbishment at Guam and reappeared in the South China Sea after a short stay, which seems to indicate that the carrier group has started to assume the “combat” duty in the international waters of the South China Sea. “The flagship of the USS Roosevelt carrier strike group, the USS Roosevelt, carries the Navy’s 11th Carrier Aircraft Wing, which has four combat attack squadrons, an AWACS squadron, an electronic warfare flight, a helicopter maritime attack squadron, a The USS Roosevelt has four combat attack squadrons, one AWACS squadron, one electronic warfare flight, one helicopter maritime attack squadron, one maritime combat helicopter squadron, plus one logistics support flight. “The USS Roosevelt has four times the number of fighters on board than the USS Liaoning, and has superior performance and experienced pilots.
The Chinese Communist Party’s island seizure in the Philippines’ exclusive economic zone is advancing step by step
In my March 30 article “From the East China Sea to the Indian Ocean, China and the U.S. Intensify Attack and Defense” on this website, I introduced China’s recent island-building activities in the international waters of the South China Sea on Niuyu Reef, and the CCP’s forcible seizure of seven reefs in the international waters of the South China Sea and the establishment of naval bases. According to the international law of the sea, Huangyan Island, Niuyu Reef and Meiji Reef are all within the Philippines’ 200-nautical-mile exclusive economic zone. If the Chinese Communist Party sends fishing boats to fish in the exclusive economic zone of other countries, this is an economic dispute; while the Chinese Communist Party openly occupies the reefs in the exclusive economic zone of Southeast Asian countries, creates artificial islands and builds naval bases, this is an infringement on the sovereignty and national security of other countries, and a military aggression that totally rejects the international law of the sea. The Chinese Communist Party has repeatedly made it clear with its actions that it does not care about international law or the sovereignty of other countries; it does not care whether it is in your exclusive economic zone or not, and it does not care if your military personnel are stationed on a reef very close to your country. You can’t beat me, your family’s stuff will be handed over, or I’ll beat you up”. Southeast Asian countries are generally militarily weak, and the Philippines has repeatedly reasoned with the hegemonic Chinese communist bandits and international law, and repeatedly lodged diplomatic protests, all to no avail. The CCP’s reckless execution of its military aggression plan in the South China Sea is a hegemonic act very similar to what the Great Japanese Empire did back then.
China appropriated Huangyan Island, which belongs to the Philippines, a decade ago. The island, a circular atoll located about a hundred kilometers west of Manila, was included in a map of the Philippines prepared by the U.S. National Geodetic Survey in 1900, opened as a firing range for U.S. forces in the Philippines in 1950, and was still under U.S. control in 1980. The Philippine government has repeatedly declared by decree that Huangyan Island belongs to the country. Since 1990, China has been sending ships to Huangyan Island to try to occupy and control it; but the Philippine Navy has controlled that island for the next 10 years, often clashing with ships sent by China. 2012 saw another clash between the two countries there, with the Philippine public protesting the Chinese invasion and its defense secretary calling on the public to prepare for war in response to the Chinese aggression. And on April 19 of that year Sohu.com published a special article titled “PLA’s three bases frequently move, nuclear submarines have run to the South China Sea”, which said, “Only give them some color. After a standoff between the two sides for some time, China ended up forcibly occupying the island. However, the Chinese Communist Party has not built the island there, probably considering the atoll as the “rear” of the international waters in the South China Sea that it plans to control, and the construction force for the island will be deployed to the more southern sea area.
Recently, the Chinese Communist Party is building a naval base on Niuyu Reef, located a few hundred kilometers southwest of Huangyan Island, in the southern part of the South China Sea. Ngau Yoke Reef is the largest atoll in the South China Sea, in the shape of an inverted V. It is located west of Palawan Island in the Philippines, southwest of Manila, and close to Brunei. If you draw a straight line on a map from the southernmost tip of Vietnam in the South China Sea to Manila, the capital of the Philippines, Bull Yoke Reef is almost right in the middle of the line. This is a key point in the southbound waterway for the Chinese Communist Party’s strategic nuclear submarines heading south to Australia, and building a naval base here would block international waters in the South China Sea.
To the east of the already occupied Niuyu Reef and Mischief Reef, there is a Philippine-controlled Renai Reef closer to the Philippine coast, which the CCP may want to seize from the Philippines to build an island. There is a stranded Philippine naval vessel on the reef of Renai Reef, and Filipino soldiers are staying on the reef for a long period of time and regularly changing the defense, and the Chinese Communist Party has now started to use marine police vessels and missile speedboats to expel Philippine vessels passing through Renai Reef. If this situation continues, it will be very difficult for the Philippine military personnel on the scrap ship at Renai Reef to receive supplies from the sea and regular changes of guard, and they will have to be evacuated. The Communist Party has now further begun to blockade the airspace over the newly built islands, and on March 29 Philippine military planes flying over the Communist-created Chigua Island were driven away by Communist forces. These actions show that after forcibly occupying reefs in the high seas to create islands, the Chinese Communist Party openly views them as territory and does not allow ships and military aircraft from nearby countries to approach.
The Chinese Communist Party’s approach in the South China Sea is basically to seize the reefs by hegemonic means and then block the surrounding waters under its control. Soon, the CCP will have stripped the Philippines and Malaysia of parts of their exclusive economic zones and become the CCP’s so-called territories and territorial waters. When the international situation becomes tense, the Chinese Communist Party will use the pretext of a military stronghold to blockade the South China Sea and achieve its ultimate goal of consolidating its nuclear submarine “deep sea fortress”. This idea is being implemented step by step. After the completion of the island construction on NiuYuYe Reef, the CCP may further southward to select reefs near the Philippines and the coasts of Malaysia and Indonesia to continue island construction and expand its “deep sea fortress” to the gates of Southeast Asian countries. On April 6, a joint exercise between the aircraft carrier formation and the Malaysian Air Force in the South China Sea indicated that Malaysia has seen the threat of an impending Chinese invasion.
Fourth, the entire U.S. Navy and Marine Corps amphibious assault group fleet is concentrated in East Asia
The U.S. Navy has a total of two amphibious assault group fleets, one based in Okinawa, Japan, with the flagship being the medium carrier USS America, in order to prevent emergencies in the East China Sea region; the other used to stay off the Persian Gulf to prevent emergencies created by Iran, with the flagship being the USS Makin Island “medium carrier. The so-called amphibious assault group fleet, the core of which is 1 amphibious assault ship, which is the name of the U.S. Navy for this kind of ships. It is actually a medium-sized aircraft carrier, similar in appearance to a large aircraft carrier, and can carry multiple helicopters, as well as land and take off F-35 fighter-bombers. Its main mission is to deliver Marine assault troops to areas of conflict.
It is worth noting that the U.S. Navy has announced that the USS Makin Island amphibious assault group has been transferred out of the Middle East and placed under the command of the U.S. Indo-Pacific Command. This means that the entire U.S. Navy and Marine Corps amphibious assault group fleet is now deployed around China, a military deployment that provides a direct and clear warning of the strength of the Chinese Communist Party’s military threat in the South and East China Seas. The USS Makin Island amphibious assault group’s joint exercise with the USS Roosevelt carrier group in the South China Sea is a response to the Chinese Communist Party’s efforts to occupy international waters in the South China Sea and to build islands and naval bases.
The USS America amphibious assault group now based in Okinawa is responsible for responding to the Chinese Communist threat to Taiwan, while the newly transferred amphibious assault group USS Makin Island seems to be mainly responsible for responding to the Chinese Communist aggression in the South China Sea in the future. If the USS Roosevelt carrier group is mainly a deterrent to the CCP’s activities in the Indo-Pacific region from the air and sea, then the amphibious assault group of the USS Makin Island is clearly a deterrent to the CCP’s naval forces building naval bases in the international waters of the South China Sea. The ground garrison.
“Rear Admiral Doug Verissimo, commander of the aircraft carrier USS Roosevelt, said, “Combining the capabilities of the carrier strike group with the capabilities of the amphibious assault group USS Makin Island will enhance our tactical skills and demonstrate our continued dedication to the security and prosperity of the Indian and Pacific Oceans. The joint U.S. Navy and Marine Corps team has been a stabilizing force in the region.” And USS Makin Island Amphibious Assault Group’s 3rd Amphibious Squadron Commander Stewart Bateshansky said, “This expeditionary strike force is a strong indication that we can respond to any contingency, deter aggression and provide regional security in support of a free and open Indo-Pacific region to provide regional security and stability.”
“The USS Makin Island amphibious assault group includes the medium-sized aircraft carrier USS Makin Island, the amphibious dock landing ship USS Somerset and the amphibious transport ship USS San Diego. “USS San Diego, an amphibious transport ship. “The USS Makin carries a helicopter squadron, a light anti-submarine helicopter squadron, a tactical air control squadron, a Marine Corps support landing helicopter squadron, and a ground combat unit consisting of a maritime expeditionary landing team, a detachment of attack boats and an operational logistics battalion. Currently it has just arrived in Guam for refurbishment.
V. U.S. reconnaissance aircraft monitoring the activities of Chinese Communist Party nuclear submarines
Previously, there was an unnoticed news that at 5 a.m. on March 5, a U.S. Air Force RC-135S missile surveillance plane specializing in collecting ballistic missile signals took off from its base in Okinawa and flew to the airspace south of the Jiaodong Peninsula, where it repeatedly circled and monitored for six hours before returning to base. This suggests that the U.S. military was detecting the movements of the CCP’s strategic nuclear submarines at any time, when possibly 1 CCP strategic nuclear submarine was heading south from the Bohai Sea to the submarine’s second base on Hainan Island.
The South China Sea Strategic Situational Awareness website, affiliated with the Institute of Oceanography at Peking University, said in an April 21 release that U.S. RC-135W electronic reconnaissance aircraft have also been active in the South China Sea recently, and have been flying ADS-B flight position signatures almost the entire time, practicing “clear code” flights. “On April 16, a U.S. Air Force RC-135W electronic reconnaissance aircraft to the South China Sea to carry out reconnaissance operations, the whole 11 hours. The aircraft took off from the Japanese base in Okinawa at 6 a.m. and entered the South China Sea at 7:40 a.m., then received air refueling; it reconnoitered the coast of Guangdong, the southeast coast of Hainan Island and both sides of the Xisha Islands. on April 21, a U.S. Air Force RC-135W electronic reconnaissance aircraft again reconnoitered Guangdong, Hainan, Xisha, Nansha and Huangyan Islands in close proximity for 11 hours. Also on this day, a U.S. Navy P-8A anti-submarine patrol aircraft flew from Clark Air Force Base in the Philippines to reconnoiter the South China Sea.
China’s nuclear submarines are based at Yulin Harbor in Sanya, Hainan Island, and its submarine fleet consists of two types of submarines: large strategic nuclear submarines and medium-sized nuclear-powered attack submarines with diesel-powered submarines modified with small nuclear reactors. The latter completes its refit at shipyards in Shanghai or the north before moving south to join its nuclear submarine fleet. With an average depth of over 100 meters in the Taiwan Strait, the CCP’s large nuclear attack submarines are limited in their ability to maneuver in this water and are only likely to pass through and are unlikely to stay for long periods of time. Such strategic nuclear submarines are used to threaten the United States, and after departing from Yulin Harbor, if they are on a long-range mission, they will either dive eastward to try to break through the Bus Strait or southward into the underwater shipping lanes off the coasts of Indonesia and Australia, and then dive eastward again. The Chinese Communist Party’s modified nuclear-powered attack submarines, on the other hand, may be used primarily to track the U.S. surface fleet or to blockade Taiwan underwater. Beijing’s Dovetail News published an article on October 29 last year, “Undersea Hunting: China’s Land, Sea and Air Warfare Forces Combine to Surround U.S. and Japanese Submarines”. This article mentioned that from mid-September to the end of October last year, the sea and airspace southwest of Taiwan became a hotspot of fire as the U.S. and Chinese navies deployed submarines, anti-submarine aircraft and anti-submarine ships for a month-long anti-submarine offensive in this area. The same offensive began again in January of this year and is continuing at this moment.
Once a Communist nuclear submarine crosses the Bass Strait into the Philippine Sea between Japan and the Palau Islands, thousands of meters deep, the threat to U.S. national security will become very great; if a Communist strategic nuclear submarine can enter and exit the Bass Strait freely, it can move east to Midway Island (already visited last January), Pearl Harbor, or even closer to the U.S. mainland. And it is much more difficult to spot a Communist nuclear submarine in the deep waters of the Central and Eastern Pacific than in the Southwest Taiwan Sea or the South China Sea. Because once the defense of the first island chain fails and there are few islands in the Central Pacific, the U.S. will no longer be able to rely on island bases to conduct ASW reconnaissance unless it spreads carrier formations across the vast Central and Eastern Pacific. That would put the U.S. in a completely passive position strategically, making it difficult to effectively defend against a CCP nuclear submarine attack.
The U.S. military’s current reconnaissance of CCP submarines is aimed at mastering the sonar and telecommunications information of CCP nuclear submarines in order to build an anti-submarine database for future defense against it. These preparatory actions by the U.S. military indicate that the U.S. military views China as a military threat and potential enemy, and that the U.S. military is on high alert in the face of every move made by the Chinese nuclear submarines. In addition to air reconnaissance, U.S. submarines may also be sunken in that sea area “squatting” to spy on each other’s submarine response, in order to form a set of underwater tactics to prevent the Communist Party’s strategic nuclear submarines.
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