Global Times: "The United States will deploy an unprecedented 11 aircraft carriers in the Western Pacific, five of which will give China a disadvantage. "Recently, news reports in Hong Kong and the United States have attracted attention. The US magazine "The National Interest" even carried the headline "Soon the US Navy will deploy five aircraft carriers to China's backyard." Hong Kong's South China Morning Post quoted analysts as saying that the unprecedented build-up of U.S. naval power in the region is intended to send a message to Washington's allies and hostile countries, especially Beijing: Although the contradictions between Ukraine and the Middle East are escalating, the United States is still focused on the Indo-Pacific. The Global Times reporter interviewed a number of experts on the 19th to verify and analyze the relevant reports. Military expert Zhang Junshe said that it is rare for the United States to deploy five aircraft carriers "at the same time" to one area "at the same time", and even in the Persian Gulf War, the United States dispatched only six aircraft carriers to deal with the "desert storm" in Iraq. However, it can be seen from relevant reports that the five major US aircraft carrier groups have not been deployed simultaneously in the western Pacific region for a long time. Another anonymous military expert said that this article by a foreign country is suspected of engaging in a "headline party." However, it cannot be ruled out that more US aircraft carriers will be stationed in the Western Pacific region in the near future, and the United States is likely to make a big fuss about it and hold military exercises to demonstrate its strength.
Containing China is a top priority."
The South China Morning Post reported on February 14 that analysts believe that the United States may deploy nearly half of its aircraft carriers in the western Pacific to deter China and North Korea. The report says that three American aircraft carriers are operating in the Pacific Ocean, and two more are also on the verge of arrival. This is the first time that five of the 11 US aircraft carriers have conducted military operations in this area.
The report said that the USS Lincoln, an aircraft carrier of the US Pacific fleet, set sail from a port in San Diego, California, on 5 February toward the western Pacific Ocean. The US Navy also confirmed that the USS Washington, which has been repaired, will return to Yokosuka, Japan, this year to replace the USS Reagan of the US Seventh Fleet. At the same time, "Reagan" will fly back to the United States from Japan for repair and maintenance. It is worth mentioning that in the case of "lying flat", "Reagan" did not leave the port for several months.
This is the first time in recent years that the US Navy has dispatched five aircraft carriers in the Pacific Ocean at the same time, proving to the world that the United States is strong. The U.S. "Maritime Watch" said on the 5th that the U.S. aircraft carrier recently conducted a series of joint military exercises in this area. According to the "National Interest" magazine on 14 February, the US Navy aircraft carriers "Carl Vinson" and "Roosevelt" are currently operating in the waters of the western Pacific with their two aircraft carrier fleets. In late January, the Japanese Marine Corps conducted a major joint military exercise in Philippine waters and will be stationed in the western Pacific region in the coming months.
The South China Morning Post quoted Barton, an associate professor at the University of Nottingham Malaysia in the United Kingdom, as saying that the U.S. team was sent to show that the Indo-Pacific region remains a strategic priority for the United States, despite wars in Europe and the Middle East. The expert said the move also shows that containing China remains a top priority for the United States in the context of the recent warming of relations between the United States and China.
India's "Eurasian Times" wrote an article pointing out that nearly half of the US aircraft carriers will roar over China's territorial waters as never before, more than the previous three aircraft carriers. "The United States deployed three aircraft carriers to this region at the beginning of the year, and experts note that the United States is working to strengthen its strategic position in the Western Pacific. Britain's "Daily Telegraph" 2**, the United States plans to be in"China's doorstep"Deploy half of its aircraft carriers. The International Strategies Institute, a British think tank, recently published a report on military balance, noting that the West is trying to focus its attention on the war in Ukraine, while Asia is dominated by the military. At the same time, China is also strengthening its naval capabilities, and the Chinese navy is stepping up testing its third and currently most advanced aircraft carrier, the Fujian.
Show off force" with "Title Party".
The three experts interviewed by the "Global Times" reporter on the 19th all said that the foreign ** report was suspected of being exaggerated. Zhang Junshe said that relevant reports indicate that "Washington" is to replace "Reagan" and that "Lincoln" is very likely to replace Carl Vinson, so that the United States can have three aircraft carriers in the Asia-Pacific region. In recent years, the parallel deployment of three US aircraft carriers in the western Pacific region has become a common practice, which also reflects the rebalancing of the US Asia-Pacific strategy. On the basis of this strategy, the United States focuses on deploying 60 percent of its naval forces in the Asia-Pacific region. Since the U.S. announced its Indo-Pacific Strategy in February 2022, the U.S. has typically deployed two to three aircraft carriers to the western Pacific.
Zhang Xuefeng, a military expert, revealed to the "Global Times" on the 5th that the "unprecedented" build-up of five US aircraft carriers in the western Pacific is obviously not a routine action, but the simultaneous landing of five aircraft carriers, but these five aircraft carriers are distributed in the vast ocean, thousands of kilometers apart, each with its own tasks, some "passing by," some changing shifts, and there is no strategic deployment at all. However, the Asia-Pacific region is where the United States is most concerned, and there is no doubt that they will deploy more troops in the Asia-Pacific region.
Zhang Junshe said that this move is undoubtedly telling the world that the strategic focus of the United States is still in the Asia-Pacific region; Second, the situation in Northeast Asia has become increasingly tense recently, and the United States wants to use the power of aircraft carriers to show its allies its national defense obligations, which is also a kind of deterrence. Of course, it is also possible that US aircraft carriers are conducting military exercises in the South China Sea. "But judging from past experience, it is impossible for the United States to deter a possible enemy, and it will only make the situation in the region more tense. ”
The United States used to have a period in the Middle East in the case of a further deterioration of the situation in the Middle East at the end of 2023, two aircraft carrier battle groups Eisenhower and "Ford", however, "Ford" had already taken off from the Mediterranean Sea in January. According to experts, 11 to 3 of the 11 aircraft carriers of the United States usually carry out missions abroad, including 1 European command and one central command, 1 to 3 in the western Pacific, and 1 to 3 aircraft carriers for training in their home ports. However, in 2018, then-U.S. Secretary of Defense Mattis said in public that in order to deal with "great power competition" and confuse the enemy, the U.S. Navy made a series of adjustments in the deployment of aircraft carriers in order to deploy faster and more flexibly. In addition, in recent years, the shipbuilding industry in the United States has been in a slump, and their maintenance work has been constantly delayed, resulting in the postponement of the maintenance of aircraft carriers and their inability to deploy abroad as scheduled.
American and Japanese journalists aboard American aircraft carriers.
A Nikkei Asia report in early February pointed out that this is an alternative view. According to the report, the U.S. fleet deployed three aircraft carriers to the western Pacific, namely the Carl Vinson, the Roosevelt, and the Reagan, which are based in Yokosuka, Japan, to contain China and North Korea. According to the U.S. Naval University, this is the first time in nearly two years that three U.S. aircraft carriers have been deployed to the "first island chain," linking Okinawa, the island of Taiwan and the Philippines.
By all accounts, the United States is doing everything possible to expand its influence. According to Nikkei Asia, the U.S. Navy asked for training of its aircraft carriers in part of Philippine waters last November, in an effort to attract more public attention. On 31 January, the US Navy allowed some journalists, including Nikkei Asia, to enter the USS Carl Vinson to conduct military exercises in the Philippine Sea with Japan. A US Navy patrol boat was spotted 5 to 10 kilometers away from the USS Carl Vinson, allegedly to collect information about joint military exercises between the United States and Japan, a US Navy official also told reporters.
Wall Street** published an article on February 19 saying, "Landing on a U.S. aircraft carrier, Philippine waters have become the front line of the confrontation between the United States and China." "Three months ago, during the joint U.S.-Japan military exercises, Chinese aircraft carriers, ships and military aircraft were also conducted under Japanese surveillance.
In response to the Philippines' recent involvement of the United States in the South China Sea, Defense Ministry spokesman Zhang Xiaogang said at a news conference on 12 January that China has always advocated defense cooperation between countries and must not sacrifice the interests of any third party or endanger regional peace and security. The purpose of the Philippines' attempt to collude with some foreign forces to conduct "joint patrols" in the South China Sea is to use foreign forces to create incidents in the South China Sea, aggravate tensions in the South China Sea, and disrupt regional peace and stability. As always, China will maintain a high degree of vigilance and unswervingly safeguard national sovereignty, security and maritime rights.