On the evening of April 7 to early morning of April 8, it was reported that the USS Makin Island amphibious alert group had entered the South China Sea. The picture shows the amphibious assault ship USS Makin Island.
The situation is tense as the U.S. and China continue to wrestle in the South China Sea. According to reports, the USS Makin Island amphibious alert group has entered the South China Sea. And on April 4, the USS Roosevelt carrier strike group also entered the South China Sea.
On Thursday (April 8), the South China Sea Strategic Situation Perception (SCSPI), a semi-official organization at Peking University’s Institute of Oceanography, posted on Weibo and Twitter that satellite data showed that the USS Makin Island amphibious-ready group (USS Makin Island) entered the South China Sea on Wednesday night and into the early hours of Thursday morning. amphibious-ready group (ARG) crossed the Strait of Malacca into disputed waters in the South China Sea. The think tank said the ARG includes the amphibious assault ship USS Makin Island and the amphibious transport ship USS San Diego (USS San Diego LPD-22).
The U.S. Indo-Pacific Command tweeted Thursday that soldiers aboard the amphibious assault ship Makin Island were conducting “live fire training exercises” with the hashtag “Free and Open Indo-Pacific.
The USS Makin Island amphibious alert group and the 15th Marine Expeditionary Unit are in the U.S. Seventh Fleet area of operations as part of the U.S. military’s deployment plan to maintain a free and open Indo-Pacific region, the U.S. military said.
USNI News website sources indicate that the USS Makin Island Amphibious Alert Group and 15th Marine Expeditionary Unit have left U.S. Central Command and the U.S. Fifth Fleet area of operations on April 5, and they are now operating in the Indian Ocean in the U.S. Seventh Fleet area of operations.
Prior to the USS Makin Island Amphibious Alert Group’s entry into the South China Sea, on April 5, the U.S. Pacific Fleet confirmed that the USS Roosevelt Carrier Battle Group (TRCSG) re-entered the South China Sea on April 4. On Tuesday and Wednesday, Theodore Roosevelt conducted exercises in coordination with Malaysia, while the Chinese Liaoning ship departed from the Miyako Strait in southwestern Japan on Saturday for what it called “regular exercises” near Taiwan.
Chinese Navy spokesman Patrick Gao said the Liaoning fleet’s training in the waters around Taiwan is “routine training organized according to the annual work plan” and that the Chinese Navy will continue to organize similar exercises and training activities on a “regular basis” as planned.
The USS Makin Island is a U.S. Navy amphibious assault ship, the eighth of the Wasp-class amphibious assault ships, and the second U.S. Navy ship to bear the name “Makin Island”. It uses a hybrid power system and can carry 45 CH-46E Sea Knight helicopters, including six AV-8Bs Sea Harrier vertical takeoff and landing fighters, as well as tanks, armored vehicles and trucks. The ship also has MK57 vertical launch system, MK31 guided missile weapon system, etc., and can also set up six operating rooms, 17-bed intensive care unit and 47 beds.
Analysts say the U.S. Navy’s presence in the South China Sea and the broader Indo-Pacific waters is a clear signal from the U.S. government to the Chinese Communist Party that the U.S. is committed to maintaining a military presence in the region to counter the Chinese Communist Party by ensuring its commitment to its allies in the region; and it shows that U.S. military activities in the Indo-Pacific region have not changed significantly under the Biden administration compared to the Trump (Trump) era.
In recent weeks, tensions have escalated in the disputed South China Sea and Taiwan Strait, with Chinese fishing boats massing for days on disputed islands near the Philippines, much to the displeasure of Philippine authorities, and Chinese military aircraft infesting Taiwan almost daily.
On Thursday, Taiwan’s Air Force said that two Chinese anti-submarine aircraft (ASW-8) violated Taiwan’s southwestern air defense identification zone (ADIZ); on April 5, 10 Chinese military aircraft (one ASW-8, one AWACS 500, four J-16, four J-10) violated the ADIZ, with the ASW-8 flying into Taiwan’s southeastern airspace; on April 7, 15 Chinese military aircraft (two ASW-500, eight J-10, four J-16, one J-10) violated the ADIZ. On April 7, 15 Chinese military aircraft (2 Air Marshal 500s, 8 J-10s, 4 J-16s, and 1 Carrier 8) disturbed Taiwan.
For weeks, Chinese fishing boats have been massing around disputed islands off the Philippines, and the Communist Party has refused calls by the Philippine government to withdraw them. Manila said the Chinese boats had illegally entered the Philippines’ exclusive economic zone.
On Wednesday (April 7), the U.S. State Department warned of increasingly aggressive moves by the Chinese Communist Party toward the Philippines and Taiwan, stressing the U.S. obligation to its partners.
The U.S. destroyer USS John McCain also passed through the Taiwan Strait on Wednesday. The Communist Party’s Eastern Theater Command expressed its displeasure, saying the U.S. military’s move was a “wrong signal” to the government of the Republic of China.
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