China Makes Move Toward Guam (and Taiwan) – Sends Aircraft Carrier

ANALYSIS – Communist China ended the year with a naval show of force near one of America’s most strategic Pacific outposts – the U.S. island territory of Guam.

As Team Biden mulls new ways to defend this critical but distant and isolated military base from possible Chinese attack in case of war over Taiwan, China is making it clear they can get close with new and improved naval capabilities.

To underscore its message, and following the long-standing U.S. playbook, China just sailed one of its three new aircraft carriers near Guam.

As U.S. News and World Report notes:

The Chinese fleet, led by the aircraft carrier Liaoning, had already spurred several clashes with U.S. allies in the region with its tour of the western Pacific, most recently by conducting roughly 260 takeoff and landing drills near the Japanese island of Okinawa, home to a major U.S. military presence. The operations prompted the Japanese air force to scramble fighter jets and helicopters, as well as a destroyer and other elements of its self-defense forces.

But Japanese officials also confirmed Thursday that the Chinese vessels had transited to the south, near the western edge of territory the U.S. claims as part of the remote island of Guam – a critical element of America’s ability to project military might in the region as both a stopping point and a base for strategic Air Force bombers and Navy submarines.

Chinese state news framed the deployment as an overt provocation to the U.S. and a warning against continuing behavior this year that has outraged Beijing.

The operation “showed that the Chinese carrier is ready to defend the country against potential US attacks launched from there, including military interference attempts over the Taiwan question,” according to an article from the English-language Global Times, citing Chinese analysts.

While the Type 001 Liaoning is not seen as a major threat by U.S. defense planners, due to its age, size and capabilities (it is akin to a U.S. Marine ‘lighting carrier’ or a British carrier, with only STOL – short take-off and landing aircraft), it is still a relatively new threat.

A refurbished former Soviet/Ukrainian built warship, the Liaoning first entered operational service with the People’s Liberation Army Navy (PLAN) in 2012, but was upgraded further recently, re-entering service in 2019.

And the Liaoning is only the first of a planned five carriers China expects to launch in the near future. The latest Chinese carriers are far more capable and similar to the latest U.S. warships.

The Type 003 Fujian, for example, was launched on 17 June 2022 and is China’s first fixed-wing aircraft carrier with a fully indigenous design, featuring a CATOBAR system and electromagnetic catapults.

Meanwhile, China claimed the Liaoning had never sailed so close to U.S. territory before.

So, it sends a message China could not send before:

“We can get an aircraft carrier close to your territory, too.” ALD

The opinions expressed in this article are those of the author and do not necessarily reflect the positions of American Liberty News.

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