![]() ![]() "We will not be reflexive or knee-jerk we will be patient and effective," Kurt Campbell, the White House's Indo-Pacific coordinator, said in August. kept its military assets away from the island so as not to give Beijing another pretext to further escalation tensions. Indo-Pacific Command did not respond to an email from Newsweek seeking comment about the deployment.Īfter China launched war games in response to Pelosi's visit to Taiwan last year, the U.S. Navy/Mass Communication Specialist 2nd Class Joseph Calabrese The United States took part in exercises with Japan about 320 nautical miles east of Taiwan last week. Navy's Carrier Strike Group 11, whose naval exercise with Japanese warships took the allies from the East China Sea into the Western Pacific by the weekend, according to announcements by both sides.Īsked about the Nimitz's presence last week, Taiwan defense chief Chiu Kuo-cheng said: "We can't say it has come for, but its position, its posture, is related."Īn F/A-18F Super Hornet from the “Fighting Redcocks” of Strike Fighter Squadron 22 launches from the flight deck of the aircraft carrier USS Nimitz on April 8, 2023, while on maneuvers in the Western Pacific. The Joint Staff of Japan's Self-Defense Force, which watched the Shandong enter the Western Pacific last week, said the Chinese carrier launched 80 aircraft and 40 helicopter sorties between April 7-9 while on maneuvers 125-230 nautical miles south of the Japanese island of Miyako.Įscorting the Shandong were Chinese destroyer Jiaozuo, frigates Xuchang and Liuzhou as well as combat support ship Chaganhu, Tokyo's information showed.Īlso in the area, about 320 nautical miles east of Taiwan, was the USS Nimitz, the flagship of the U.S. The carrier-based aircraft were launched from the Shandong, which was operating roughly 200 nautical miles east of the island as part of the squeeze from all sides.īut the Shandong was being closely watched by America and treaty ally Japan. This included at least four sorties by J-15 fast jets, which flew into the island's southeastern air defense identification zone-a self-declared buffer over international airspace-for the first time on Monday, according to the Taiwanese defense ministry. The war games involved less direct firepower than the dayslong quasi-blockade and live-fire exercise that followed Nancy Pelosi's visit to Taipei last August, when she became the first sitting House speaker in 25 years to visit the island.īut there was no shortage of military pressure as dozens of Chinese warplanes, accompanied by 8-11 warships, operated in Taiwan's nearby sea and airspace. China conducted a three-day show of force around Taiwan last week. Three military boats from Taiwan's Amphibious Reconnaissance and Patrol Unit patrol the Matsu Islands off China’s eastern coast, on April 9, 2023, on the second day of the Chinese “Joint Sword” military drills. The Chinese military said it "successfully completed" exercise "Joint Sword" with a simulated blockade of the island and precision strikes. Tsai convened national security officials on Saturday as China began the drills that included bomber and fighter aircraft sorties and mock missile strikes against "key targets" in Taiwan and in its surrounding waters. Its government considers Tsai a separatist for seeking to perpetuate the long-standing status quo across the Taiwan Strait, which has seen the island remain de facto independent since 1949 when Communist Party leaders took power in Beijing. ![]() The warship and its escorts took part in "encirclement" exercises around the island as part of Beijing's response, the Chinese military said.Ĭhina claims Taiwan as its own and has pledged to seize it by force if necessary. The Shandong, the second of China's three aircraft carriers, embarked on its first-ever deployment to the Pacific on April 5, hours before a meeting on United States soil between House Speaker Kevin McCarthy and President Tsai Ing-wen of Taiwan. Chinese and American carrier groups were both on maneuvers in relative proximity in the Western Pacific on Monday as China concluded a three-day show of force around Taiwan. ![]()
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