China’s first aircraft carrier forms ‘evolving pattern’ of voyages in disputed Asian seas

NEW TAIPEI CITY, Taiwan— China’s first aircraft carrier, heavily watched around East Asia as an emblem of Beijing’s growing naval power , had made at least six faraway deployments since its completion 14 years ago.

It made another in October.

So frequent are the Chinese aircraft carrier CNS Liaoning’s publicly visible voyages that military analysts presume that the People’s Liberation Army Navy has fixed a routine that will let the relatively aged carrier help train and equip the fleet’s two more modern ones.

Still, the carrier group’s passages not far from Taiwan , Japan and the Philippines – places that have political or maritime sovereignty disputes with China – have raised alerts .

“The current voyage by the Liaoning appears to be part of an established evolving pattern of far-seas training deployments,” said Carl Thayer, an Asia specialist and emeritus professor at the University of New South Wales in Australia.

“The Liaoning demonstrates China’s naval military capability and political influence through its constant presence in China’s near and far seas,” he said.

The aircraft carrier led a naval task group to the western Pacific Ocean on Oct. 14 for training, the Chinese People’s Liberation Army Navy said via China’s official Xinhua News Agency. Citing the navy, Xinhua called the expedition a “drill” and part of an annual routine training plan aimed at “testing and improving combat readiness.”

China’s state-controlled Global Times news outlet called the Liaoning’s October voyage its second in the distant seas and hailed the carrier’s long-term progress as going from a “coastal pathfinder” to a “far-sea blade.”

The vessel, categorized as a “short take-off but arrested recovery” aircraft carrier, measures about 305 meters (1,000 feet) long and with flight deck width up to 75 meters.

As of Oct. 23, the carrier group had done exercises near the southernmost Japanese outlying islands and was headed for the South China Sea near the Philippines, according to local media reports in East Asia. The reports said it went with two large destroyers and a guided-missile destroyer.

The deployments are meant to show China’s two more-modern carriers, the CNS Fujian and the CNS Shandong, how to adopt new technology, experts said.

The nine-year-old Shandong carrier would learn about “new and emerging” technology as the older Liaoning tests flight operations, sensors and modern aircraft, said Collin Koh, a senior fellow at Nanyang Technological University in Singapore.

“The Shandong aircraft carrier is basically an improved version of the Liaoning,” Koh said. He said the current deployment was probably “meant maybe to validate certain technologies.”

Being the oldest of China’s three carriers, the Liaoning would “not be the frontline reaction force if there were a contingency”, said Alexander Huang, chairman of the Council of Strategic and Wargaming Studies in Taipei.

China’s maritime rivals have taken notice.

The Taiwan Ministry of National Defense said in mid-October it was monitoring the possibility of large-scale Chinese military exercises nearby as an outcome of the Liaoning’s movements.

China claims self-ruled Taiwan as part of its territory and has not ruled out the use of force to take it. The PLA has stepped up military activity in waters near the island since 2022.

In the South China Sea, Beijing has already shored up its sovereignty claims over the past two decades by building artificial islands, often for military use. Brunei, Malaysia, the Philippines and Vietnam dispute parts of the sea with China.

In Tokyo, which disputes a group of uninhabited islets with Beijing, the defense ministry said it had seen fighter aircraft taking off and landing from the Liaoning carrier 250 kilometers (155 miles) south of Japan’s Ishigaki Island.

The Chinese carrier group launched and recovered aircraft in Japan’s maritime exclusive economic zone during its deployment, said Colin Karotam, senior resident fellow with the Defence Strategy Program at the Australian Strategic Policy Institute. That activity is “uncommon,” Karotam said, though it may have taken place before.

The Chinese carrier group’s activities also began shortly before the Keen Sword 27 U.S.–Japan military exercises launched on Oct. 19. The exercises on Ishigaki are biennial and include the Philippines among other nations. China sees the United States, a treaty ally of both Japan and the Philippines, as a military rival in Asia.

Xinhua said the Liaoning’s movements in October comply with international law and “are not directed at any specific country or target.”

台湾新台北市——中国第一艘航空母舰，作为北京日益增长的海军力量的象征，在东亚地区备受关注，自14年前建成以来，至少进行了六次远洋部署。

它在十月份又制作了一部。

中国航母辽宁号频繁公开航行，军事分析人士推测，中国人民解放军海军已经制定了一套例行程序，让这艘相对老旧的航母帮助训练和装备舰队中两艘更现代化的航母。

不过，该航母战斗群在距离台湾、日本和菲律宾不远的海域航行——这些地方与中国存在政治或海洋主权争端——引起了人们的警惕。

“辽宁舰目前的航行似乎是远洋训练部署这一既定发展模式的一部分，”澳大利亚新南威尔士大学亚洲问题专家、荣誉教授卡尔·泰耶表示。

他说：“辽宁舰通过在中国近海和远海的持续存在，展现了中国的海军军事能力和政治影响力。”

中国人民解放军海军通过新华社发布消息称，10月14日，一艘航空母舰率领一支海军特遣舰队前往西太平洋进行训练。新华社援引海军的话称，此次远航是一次“演习”，是年度例行训练计划的一部分，旨在“检验和提高战备水平”。

中国官方媒体《环球时报》称辽宁舰10月份的航行是其第二次远洋航行，并称赞该航母的长期发展是从“近海探路者”到“远洋利刃”。

该舰属于“短距起飞阻拦回收”型航空母舰，长约 305 米（1000 英尺），飞行甲板宽度达 75 米。

据东亚当地媒体报道，截至10月23日，该航母战斗群已在日本最南端的离岛附近海域完成演习，正前往菲律宾附近的南海海域。报道称，该战斗群还携带了两艘大型驱逐舰和一艘导弹驱逐舰。

专家表示，此次部署旨在向中国的两艘较新的航母——福建号和山东号——展示如何采用新技术。

新加坡南洋理工大学高级研究员柯林·科赫表示，服役九年的山东航空母舰将学习“新兴”技术，因为老牌的辽宁航空母舰将测试飞行操作、传感器和现代飞机。

“山东舰基本上是辽宁舰的改进型，”许先生说。他表示，目前的部署可能“是为了验证某些技术”。

台北战略与兵棋推演研究委员会主席黄耀文表示，辽宁舰是中国三艘航母中最老的一艘，“如果发生紧急情况，它不会是前线反应力量”。

中国的海上竞争对手已经注意到了这一点。

台湾国防部在10月中旬表示，他们正在密切关注辽宁舰的动向可能导致附近地区举行大规模中国军事演习。

中国声称自治的台湾是其领土的一部分，并且不排除使用武力收复台湾。自2022年以来，解放军加大了在台湾附近海域的军事活动。

在南海，过去二十年来，北京通过建造人工岛礁（通常用于军事用途）巩固了其主权声索。文莱、马来西亚、菲律宾和越南与中国在南海部分海域存在主权争议。

东京与北京就一组无人居住的小岛存在主权争议，日本防卫省表示，他们看到战斗机从辽宁号航母上起飞和降落，该航母位于日本石垣岛以南 250 公里（155 英里）处。

澳大利亚战略政策研究所国防战略项目高级研究员科林·卡罗塔姆表示，中国航母战斗群在部署期间曾在日本专属经济区内进行飞机起降作业。卡罗塔姆称，这种行为“并不常见”，但以前可能也发生过。

中国航母战斗群的活动也恰好在10月19日美日“利剑27”联合军演开始前不久展开。在石垣岛举行的“利剑27”联合军演每两年举行一次，菲律宾等国也参与其中。中国将美国视为亚洲的军事竞争对手，而美国是日本和菲律宾的条约盟友。

新华社称，辽宁舰10月份的行动符合国际法，“并非针对任何特定国家或目标”。