The USS John C. Stennis, an aircraft carrier, is shown here Feb. 25 in the Philippine Sea. (Photo by Mass Communication Specialist Seaman Dakota Rayburn/ U.S. Navy)
Washington Post: Navy aircraft carrier group moves into contested South China Sea
The U.S. Navy has dispatched an aircraft carrier and several ships accompanying it into the South China Sea in the last few days, a deployment of thousands of U.S. sailors to a region a top U.S. admiral said last week is increasingly militarized by China.
The USS John C. Stennis, the carrier, arrived in the South China Sea on Tuesday, Navy officials said. It is accompanied by the cruiser USS Mobile Bay and the destroyers USS Stockdale and USS Chung-Hoon, said Navy Cmdr. Clay Doss, a spokesman for U.S. Pacific Fleet. The ships arrived in the Western Pacific on Feb. 4 on a deployment from the West Coast of the United States.
Doss said the carrier is carrying out a routine patrol of the South China Sea, where China has in recent weeks moved Chinese fighter jets, military radar and surface-to-air missiles. The Navy will continue to appear in the South China Sea regularly, Doss said. Pacific Fleet ships spending a combined 700 days there last year.
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Update: The U.S. just sent a carrier strike group to confront China (Navy Times)
WNU Editor: The Chinese will see this as an escalation and a direct challenge to their claims .... which it is.
8 comments:
And what does the US hope to achieve with this? Dismantlement of bases? Withdrawal of missiles and planes? Short of blockade what reason could the US give for this force to stay any length of time?
The big dog shows up and the poodle don't like it.
James, to show the chicoms there are bigger and better players in the world. The Chicoms are like the rooskies, they like to brag and bark a lot to hide their obvious weaknesses. We may have a weakling in the oval office but our military is much more powerful than theirs.
Thank you Stephen, but I got all of that. I was being rhetorical. This gambit is of no use as for it's stated purpose, for eventually we have to leave, they don't and they know it. If anything the whole thing is for US domestic consumption and political maneuvering.
Stephen. China won't move. The US are becoming very week day by day. Very soft indeed.
If the Chinese need an excuse to militarize once the SCS, then they just won.
When China speaks listen close, you'll hear Russia speaking too. When Russia speaks listen close, you'll hear China speaking too. It's no coincidence that both, regardless of the theatre, are challenging U.S. hegemony right now. Together, in Eurasia and bordering waters, they are stronger, or at least stronger enough to inflict unacceptable harm, than "we" are. And they know it.
There's no direct military intervention in the Ukraine or Syria, nor will therr be an eviction from the islands in the S. China sea because there is no force on this planet able to take on Russia and China without taking a real, perhaps fatal, beating themselves.
China's moves in the South China Sea, just like Russia's with Crimea and Syria, are a fait accompli. The responses to date are tantrums and provocations which only end up making things worse for their authors.
"We" are losing.
The US doesn't need to answer every provication. Crimea and Syria are regional issues and change nothing. The Russians was already there. Eastern Ukraine is Russia testing the waters outside it's box. They seemed to have been blunted there for now, which truly effects them as they still do not have a land bridge/access to Crimea. It's an expensive propaganda move now.
China is a different story. It's building military island facilities in areas that are disputed by our allies. China intends to put the South China Sea under its control. This is a threat to our allies in the region like South Korea, Japan, Philippines, Taiwan, etc. because of the trade that flows through there. Not to mention our own trade. It is a military and economic interest issue/threat. We will continue to navigate through to show China it's territorial ambitions are being ignored. The US is still by far the dominant sea power every where. China has much to lose by a direct confrontation with he US, both militarily and more importantly, economically. I anticipate it will challenge the US with civilian vessels under government control and agressive airial maneuvers in relation to US and ally's aircraft. This stage has yet to be played.
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