China launches 'realistic' combat training exercises in Western Pacific

China’s Liaoning aircraft carrier group has embarked on a “realistic combat” training mission in the Western Pacific, the Chinese Navy announced on Tuesday. It was last spotted entering the western Pacific via the Miyako Strait, which is one of the few international waterways for the People’s Liberation Army Navy to access the Pacific Ocean from the East China Sea.  Consisting of at least eight warships, the carrier group is the largest to voyage this far in the western half of the Pacific ocean. 

Meanwhile the Chinese Navy, in a social media post, said that the mission is routine  and adheres to all international laws and practices and is “not directed at any third parties.“ However, experts have deemed it to be Beijing’s attempt to enhance its naval exercises in the region, which is close to Taiwan-- a territory China claims sovereign rights on. Additionally, it also points out the country’s attempts to supplant US naval influence in the Indo-Pacific region.

The Liaoning warship was originally purchased as a hulk from Ukraine, following which it was entirely refurbished. China has since added a second entirely home-built carrier, the Shandong, and is believed to be at work on at least two more. The whole exercise comes months after China, along with the Russian Federation held its first-ever maritime patrol - Maritime Interaction 2021 - in the Western Pacific waters as the two countries sent a total of 10 warships under the Russian Pacific Fleet and six carrier-based helicopters for the military exercise in the Sea of Japan, and the East China Sea between October 17 and October 23, the defence ministries of Russia and China said in separate statements.

Sino-Taiwan conflict 

Beijing claims sovereign rights over Taiwan, located roughly 100 miles from its coast, but Taipei has repeatedly claimed that it was an independent entity.

Speaking at the celebrations marking the 100th anniversary of the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) on July 1, last year, President Xi Jinping vowed for complete reunification of the motherland, fuelling fears of a possible annexation of the pacific island by Beijing. In addition, Jinping also vowed to "smash" any attempts at the formal recognition of Taiwan's independence. 

(File Image: AP)