Will Deploying Two U.S. Aircraft Carriers To East Asia Offset China's Growing Assertiveness?

The Nimitz-class aircraft carriers USS John C. Stennis (CVN 74), and USS Ronald Reagan (CVN 76) (rear) conduct dual aircraft carrier strike group operations in the U.S. 7th Fleet area of operations in support of security and stability in the Indo-Asia-Pacific in Philippine Sea on June 18, 2016. Courtesy Jake Greenberg/U.S. Navy/Handout via REUTERS

Reuters: U.S. navy chief hopes carriers deter East Asia destabilization

The U.S. Navy chief said on Monday he hoped the deployment of two aircraft carriers on a training mission in East Asia would deter any attempts to destabilize the region, where military tensions have risen amid China's growing assertiveness.

The U.S. carriers John C. Stennis and Ronald Reagan began joint operations in seas east of the Philippines at the weekend in a show of strength ahead of an international court ruling expected soon on China's expansive territorial claims in the contested South China Sea.

Admiral John Richardson, the chief of U.S. Naval Operations, told a Washington think tank it was not often the United States had two carrier strike groups in the same waters and it was a sign of U.S. commitment to regional security.

He referred to a similar deployment of a second U.S. carrier in the Mediterranean Sea last week, at a time when U.S. officials are raising alarm over Russia's maritime expansion.

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WNU Editor: These moves are directed at China in the hope that this will make China step back when they are pushing their territorial claims on their neighbours. My prediction .... this will only galvanise the Chinese to continue with their military modernisation plans, and they will intensify the political pressure on their neighbours to give them what they want.