China sends carrier group into Western Pacific after U.S. summit

May 19 (Asia Today) -- China deployed an aircraft carrier strike group into the Western Pacific for military exercises days after a summit between Chinese President Xi Jinping and U.S. President Donald Trump in Beijing, highlighting Beijing's effort to maintain a visible military presence in the region.

According to China's state-run Xinhua News Agency, the Chinese People's Liberation Army Navy on Monday dispatched the carrier group led by the Liaoning into the Western Pacific for a series of drills.

The exercises included long-range tactical flight operations, live-fire exercises, support and escort missions and integrated search-and-rescue training, the report said.

The People's Liberation Army described the drills as part of its regular annual training program aimed at improving combat readiness and operational capabilities. Chinese military officials also said the exercises complied with international law and common international practices.

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Chinese media linked the deployment to the recent U.S.-China summit, noting that Beijing had agreed with Washington to pursue a "constructive strategic stability relationship" while simultaneously demonstrating continued military strength in nearby waters.

The Western Pacific remains a strategically sensitive region involving the United States, Japan and Taiwan, and Chinese carrier operations there are closely watched by regional militaries.

The area also overlaps with operational zones tied to the United States Seventh Fleet, making Chinese naval activity there strategically significant for both Washington and Beijing.

China has increasingly focused on projecting military power beyond the so-called "first island chain," a U.S.-aligned strategic arc stretching from Okinawa through Taiwan and the Philippines toward the Strait of Malacca.

Last year, China conducted its first dual-carrier exercise involving both the Liaoning and the Shandong carrier groups across the Yellow Sea, East China Sea, South China Sea and Western Pacific.

During those operations, the Chinese carrier groups reportedly crossed beyond the "second island chain" linking Japan's Ogasawara Islands and the U.S. territory of Guam.

Analysts say the latest deployment underscores China's continuing effort to expand blue-water naval capabilities and reinforce its strategic presence in waters traditionally dominated by the United States and its allies.

-- Reported by Asia Today; translated by UPI

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Original Korean report: https://www.asiatoday.co.kr/kn/view.php?key=20260519010005348