The recent story surrounding the Chinese Communist Party’s Liaoning aircraft carrier continues to fester. The Chinese Communist Party has made a fool of itself militarily, seemingly beyond belief and even against military common sense, and is actually being held by the nose by the U.S. military in the South China Sea. The original deployment of the Chinese Communist military has been completely disrupted by the U.S. military’s South China Sea strategy. The outside world has seen not only the weakness of the CCP’s aircraft carriers, but also the biggest weakness in the CCP’s military command system.
After the Liaoning’s sortie, the Chinese and American militaries have been wrestling with each other repeatedly, and the Chinese Communist army is not only too different in terms of tactical capabilities, but also in terms of overall military strategy.
Far sea training becomes near sea defense?
On April 5, Xinhua News Agency reported that “Liaoning Carrier Formation Conducts Offshore Training”, and soon issued another report, “Liaoning Carrier Formation Conducts Training in Waters Around Taiwan! . The Chinese Communist Party made a rare and timely announcement about the carrier’s “training in the distant sea”, and then it became a routine training in the “waters around Taiwan”, from the distant sea to the near sea.
The pictures later released by the U.S. military largely explain everything. As soon as the Liaoning left the sea, it was accompanied by the U.S. Navy’s SHIELD ships at close range, and the CCP was probably forced to cancel the original far sea training.
Meanwhile, the USS Roosevelt aircraft carrier and the USS Masing Island amphibious assault fleet rehearsed in the South China Sea, showing no action to gallop to Taiwan, but revealing plans to open a second battlefield in the South China Sea, which should make the Chinese Communist Party hairy.
The Liaoning aircraft carrier could actually return to Qingdao from the Taiwan Strait and retreat in one piece, but the CCP military committee ordered the Liaoning to enter the South China Sea, deliberately choosing to continue to make a big fool of itself. Such an order is indeed inconceivable. The CCP carrier had to go to the South China Sea to confront the U.S. carrier, which could only make a fool of itself, but the U.S. military exerted great pressure in the South China Sea, and the CCP refused to show weakness in front of the U.S., and at the same time was made to ride the tiger by patriotism, so it had to transfer the carrier to the South China Sea.
If the CCP had originally arranged such a training route, it would have been more completely held in check by the U.S. military in the South China Sea. However, the CCP’s earliest announcement was the practice of far sea training, circling the coastline from the Bohai Sea to the Taiwan Sea and then to the South China Sea, not to mention any far sea training. The Liaoning sailing into the South China Sea is more like an impromptu move, even patted by Xi Jinping himself.
What can the Liaoning do in the South China Sea?
The Liaoning entered the South China Sea from the Taiwan Strait, ostensibly with the U.S. aircraft carrier in mind, but the information revealed so far shows that the Liaoning did not approach the U.S. aircraft carrier, nor did it go deeper into the Spratly Islands, but was stationed off Hainan Island. There are internet videos or pictures showing the Liaoning conducting carrier training, but such actions indicate that the Liaoning is not yet able to operate far out to sea and can only appear to be defending in the near sea.
The Liaoning’s true combat capabilities have long been known to the outside world, but the Chinese Communist Party has deliberately made a fool of itself by allowing U.S. warships, allegedly Japanese warships, and even Taiwanese warships to watch and laugh.
The aircraft carriers are meant for oceanic operations, and if they are used for offshore defense, the loss is completely outweighed by the advantage of aircraft on shore over carrier-based aircraft in the offshore area. This suggests that the Liaoning’s entry into the South China Sea is more likely to be a political decision than a professional military one. The Liaoning’s carrier-based aircraft training should not be completely overdone yet. It is more prudent to be close to shore, relatively easier to rescue in case of an accident, and if the carrier aircraft cannot land at the carrier, they can still fly to a land airport to land and resupply should be closer.
On April 19, the Chinese Communist Party’s military network reported “Trekking through the frightening waves to break through the dangerous road: a detachment of the navy in the southern war zone organizes towing and rescue drills”; on April 20, it also reported “A service ship brigade of the navy in the southern war zone organizes ships to carry out sea training”, but there was no news of Liaoning’s training in the South China Sea. The Chinese military should find it difficult to justify the change from distant sea training to near sea training, and if there was a malfunction as rumored, it would be even more difficult to cover it up.
Recently, the Chinese Communist Party also deliberately released a video of the J-15 carrier aircraft elephant strolling, and it is difficult to confirm whether it was filmed recently. However, these carrier aircraft are not taking off from the aircraft carrier, but from the ground runway. The CCP may be trying to show that it has a large number of J-15s, but the fact that no more than 10 at most are seen in the footage just proves that the CCP is short on the number of carrier aircraft and is still conducting ground-based simulated takeoffs and landings, and cannot get them all on board.
With such a level of carriers and carrier aircraft, the Chinese Communist Party has to go to the South China Sea to show its eyes, and is completely led by the nose by the U.S. military in the South China Sea.
U.S. Forces Gain Strategic Initiative in the South China Sea
In July 2020, the U.S. military began implementing a new strategy in the South China Sea, constantly showing that it is prepared to open a second battlefield in the South China Sea and may seize the CCP’s military islands in the South China Sea at any time. This is a key move by the U.S. military in response to the CCP’s forceful attack on Taiwan, causing the CCP to divide its forces to defend the South China Sea and disrupting the CCP’s overall plan to attack Taiwan.
Now, all of the CCP’s dual aircraft carriers have entered the South China Sea, signifying that the U.S. military’s South China Sea strategy is working, forcing the main force of the CCP fleet to defend the South China Sea. The current standoff between the two sides is more on the deterrent and political level, but while the U.S. military is clearly prepared tactically, the CCP has no clue yet and just refuses to show weakness easily.
Strategically, the CCP military is caught in a passive position, while the U.S. military holds the initiative.
While the CCP continues to build military islands in the South China Sea, the CCP naval fleet and air force fighters are actually deployed more in the East China Sea and the Taiwan Sea. The CCP’s deployment in the Taiwan Sea is dominated by island seizure offensive operations, while the deployment in the East China Sea is temporarily only a threat to Japan and South Korea, but more of a defense against Beijing, compared to the relatively weak South China Sea.
The CCP’s island seizure in the South China Sea has penetrated deep into the Spratly Islands, far from mainland China, beyond the range of most warplanes, and the navy is even less able to quickly come to its aid. The U.S. military has seen precisely where the CCP military is weakest in the South China Sea and has chosen to open a second front in the South China Sea, which is undoubtedly quite a good option militarily and shows the professionalism of the U.S. military.
The U.S. military fought on both the East and West fronts in World War II and had the strength to win on multiple fronts by delegating authority to the front lines. The U.S. military has also been strategically deployed and trained in accordance with the need to win two and a half wars simultaneously, and the U.S. military should be lightly familiar with opening up the South China Sea and East China Sea battlefields outside of the Taiwan Strait. The U.S. military turned a passive defensive war in the Taiwan Strait into an active offensive campaign in the South China Sea and possibly the East China Sea, completely disrupting the Chinese Communist Party’s deployment to attack Taiwan and having to turn to defending the South China Sea, while also having to step up its defenses in the East China Sea to prevent Beijing from being attacked by air strikes.
To increase the effect, on April 12, the U.S. military deliberately announced that F-16s from Misawa base in Japan made a long run to rehearse with the USS Roosevelt aircraft carrier in the South China Sea, supposedly to show the strength to the CCP air force. on April 19, the U.S. military again dynamically deployed B-52 bombers to Guam. The U.S. Navy is in the South China Sea and the Air Force is ready to support operations in the South China Sea. In contrast, the Chinese Communist Air Force is out of reach in the South China Sea due to the lack of refueling planes.
The weakness of the Chinese military is eaten up by the U.S. military
The joke of the Liaoning aircraft carrier has exposed the real military strength of the Chinese Communist Party and the biggest weakness of its military command system.
The East China Sea, Taiwan Sea and South China Sea, which involve at least three war zones delineated by the CCP, including the Northern War Zone, Eastern War Zone, Southern War Zone, and actually the Central War Zone, are directly related to Beijing’s defense and are of utmost concern to CCP leaders. Xi Jinping certainly will not delegate power to the commanders of these four theaters, every major decision must go through the Central Military Commission, Xi Jinping, really want to go to war, Xi Jinping how can cope with it?
At the moment there is no war, the U.S. military in the South China Sea as soon as they increase their actions, the Chinese Communist Party will drive both aircraft carriers into the South China Sea, but the commander of the southern war zone should not have the right to command. If the U.S. carrier Reagan moves out and approaches Qingdao, what should the CCP do? How can the CCP’s military commission, which has actually lost sight of this and is in disarray, still organize a forceful attack on Taiwan?
The U.S. has not only gained the military initiative in the South China Sea, but also succeeded in forcing the CCP’s dual carriers to enter the South China Sea, which will inevitably cause Southeast Asian countries to be more wary of the CCP, and will also cause further concern among countries around the world about the safety of the South China Sea shipping lanes. If the CCP sends out the Shandong aircraft carrier again, the twin carriers should be able to strengthen cooperation with the U.S. military more quickly in the neighboring and other countries as long as they walk around the South China Sea a little. Of course, if the CCP does, there should be a sequel to the more dramatic story.
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