Developing Story
China's Liaoning Carrier and USS Theodore Roosevelt in Philippine Sea
China's Liaoning carrier strike group sailed near the Philippines and beyond the first island chain, raising the prospect it could operate in the Philippine Sea concurrently with the USS Theodore Roosevelt amid US-Japan exercises.
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China's Liaoning aircraft carrier strike group sailed beyond the first island chain last week to reach the southernmost waters of the Philippines, in a move suggesting an intent to position itself closer to ongoing US-Japan joint exercises (SCMP, October 25). Philippine news channel BNC reported the carrier group reached about 25 nautical miles (46km) east-southeast of Balut Island, the southernmost point of the Philippines, before sailing northeast on Friday (SCMP, October 25). This positioned the warships past the first island chain, raising the possibility that the Liaoning and the USS Theodore Roosevelt could be in the Philippine Sea at the same time (SCMP, October 25).
The development is part of an escalating pattern of Chinese and US naval posturing in waters near the Philippines amid broader South China Sea tensions.