On April 23, Russia announced that it had begun withdrawing its troops from exercises near the Ukrainian border. Under strong pressure from the United States and NATO, Russian forces abandoned their intentions to potentially attack Ukraine, and Putin weighed the pros and cons and finally called it quits. A potential military conflict was stopped, and both the United States and NATO should be relieved.
One of the two military conflict crises facing the U.S. has now been temporarily resolved, and the other, the military standoff in the Indo-Pacific region, is now even more of a concern. Whether or not Russia and the Chinese Communist Party coordinated privately, the near-simultaneous military moves by both did make the U.S. and Western nations nervous for a time.
Now, Russia’s withdrawal has left the CCP alone in the Indo-Pacific region to confront the U.S. military and its allies, and it cannot be denied that Russia has pitted the CCP once again.
The Chinese Communist Party’s Liaoning aircraft carrier, which is supposed to be the protagonist of this U.S.-China military standoff, has almost stolen the show, only to play the biggest ugly role. On April 22, the Chinese Communist Navy launched an official propaganda film, “Hello 100 Years, I am the People’s Navy, Going Deep Blue”, in which the Liaoning aircraft carrier was once again the main character. The CCP party media Xinhua News Agency, People’s Daily and the CCP military network all helped to promote the propaganda.
The propaganda film, which is dedicated to the 100th anniversary of the founding of the Chinese Communist Party, tries to show how powerful the Chinese Communist Navy is, and claims to be heading towards the deep blue ocean; however, there are few images of the Chinese Communist fleet in the ocean, and more shots show the interior of the ships, the shore, and even the jungle. The Liaoning enters the South China Sea and stays near Hainan Island, making it difficult to confirm whether it is cooperating with the filming of this propaganda film. The current climate in the Bohai Sea and East China Sea may not be ideal, so choosing the South China Sea for filming is indeed the best choice.
While the Liaoning was already a target, the CCP has taken the initiative to promote it in a high profile manner, putting it constantly in the foreground; meanwhile, with the withdrawal of Russian troops, the CCP has also put itself alone in the foreground of confrontation with the US military and its allies.
In his speeches at the Boao Forum and climate summit, Xi Jinping continued to talk about the “community of human destiny” and “global governance,” refusing to give up his struggle for hegemony with the United States, not to mention other countries.
Now Russia has left the Chinese Communist Party behind, perhaps to the surprise of Xi Jinping. In recent times, the Liaoning has been embarrassed by the U.S. military and allied warships.
If the Liaoning sailed into the South China Sea really to coincide with the filming of a propaganda film, can such an army still fight a war? After the Liaoning docked near Hainan, the CCP’s frigates are reportedly missing, including the 055,000-ton destroyer, which is said to be the most powerful warship.
It is likely that the performance of key equipment such as radar and sonar of the CCP warships has been mastered by the U.S. military, and perhaps there has been a private contest of electronic and intelligence warfare between the Chinese and U.S. warships. In order not to continue to make a fool of themselves, the CCP’s 055 destroyers and others should have fallen and fled, but of course a malfunction cannot be ruled out.
In this propaganda film, it seems that only the Liaoning shows her face, while the Shandong aircraft carrier, which had been advertised by the Chinese Communist Party’s CCTV before, does not appear. The Shandong has been docked on Hainan Island for four months, with no news of sea exercises. The previous propaganda film on the Shandong failed to show the Shandong’s operational training, but moreover described how the Shandong feeds more than 5,000 people.
The U.S. Army’s 100,000-ton aircraft carrier is equipped with more than 5,000 men, while the Chinese Communist Party’s aircraft carrier, which is about 70,000 tons, is also loaded with more than 5,000 men, which shows the gap in operational capability.
If the Liaoning must go to the South China Sea to cooperate with the CCP’s propaganda film, it shows that the Shandong cannot really go to sea yet, nor can it cooperate with the filming. Such a navy is still too far away from going to the deep blue of the ocean. In any case, the Chinese Communist Party’s placement of 2 aircraft carriers on Hainan Island has undoubtedly intensified the military confrontation in the South China Sea. Even French warships have reportedly joined in the siege of the Liaoning.
The CCP’s insouciant approach has actually made the U.S. military even more mindful. Just as the Liaoning carrier entered the South China Sea, the U.S. aircraft carrier USS Roosevelt sailed out of the South China Sea as planned, docked in Guam for a day, and then maneuvered quickly and returned to the South China Sea.
The U.S. aircraft carrier may be showing the Chinese Communist Party what a true ocean-going naval fleet is. At the same time, the U.S. military is also demonstrating the strength of its air force in the South China Sea, and it also continues to showcase next-generation naval warfare concepts such as drones and unmanned ships.
While Russia withdraws at a critical moment, the CCP continues to push the embarrassing Liaoning aircraft carrier to the forefront in a high-profile political propaganda, what is it going to do next to close the show in the South China Sea?
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