China signals ambition with dual carrier exercise in Pacific, leaving Japan wary

Unprecedented move in Western Pacific seen as attempt to challenge US dominance

- Lim Min Zhang China Correspondent

TOKYO/BEIJING - China has deployed two aircraft carriers simultaneously to the Western Pacific for the first time, signaling its intention to challenge the United States' long-held maritime dominance in the area.

In a rare move, Japan's Defence Ministry on June 17 released a map plotting the passage of the warships, Liaoning and Shandong, towards a strategic line of defence in the Western Pacific known as the "second island chain". The carriers were spotted in waters east of the Philippines on June 16.

The ministry's Joint Staff said it had detected about 520 landings and take-offs by Chinese fighter jets and helicopters from the two carriers between June 8 and 16, near Japan's easternmost Minamitorishima and southernmost Okinotorishima isles. Japanese media reported that Chinese J-15 fighter jets had apparently tried to deter Japanese reconnaissance of what Beijing describes as a "routine training exercise".

On June 7, a J-15 flew within 45m of a Japanese P-3C patrol plane. The next day, another J-15 crossed 900m in front of a P-3C's flight path, a distance that could be covered in seconds.

These incidents have led Beijing and Tokyo to accuse each other of unsafe manoeuvres that could cause a mid-air collision. Japan released photographs of the J-15s loaded with missiles and the aircraft carrier battle groups, including ship pennant numbers.

On the aircraft carrier deployment, experts said it underscores China's "blue water" naval ambitions to project power far beyond its shores. But the People's Liberation Army Navy (PLA-N) still has a long way to go before it can effectively challenge the "island chain" strategy of the US and its allies, they added.