PLA drill in South China Sea about combat readiness, not seizing Taiwanese islands, experts say

Taipei-controlled Pratas and Taiping islands lost their geostrategic importance to Beijing after it developed eight artificial islands nearby, military observer says

At least one aircraft carrier from PLA Navy set to take part in summer exercises, which will also incorporate landing drills, insider says

Reading Time:2 minutes

At least one aircraft carrier from PLA Navy set to take part in summer exercises, which will also incorporate landing drills, insider says. Photo: CNA

Published: 10:00pm, 24 May 2020Updated: 8:21am, 25 May 2020

Aircraft carriers from the PLA Navy are set to take part in combat readiness exercises this summer in the South China Sea, and while the drills are likely to raise concerns in Taipei, their aim is not to seize Taiwan-controlled territory, military observers say.

Earlier this month, Japan’s Kyodo News reported that the PLA was planning a large-scale beach landing exercise near Hainan province in August, simulating the takeover of the Pratas Islands – a group of three atolls in the north of the South China Sea that are controlled by Taiwan.

“An aircraft carrier strike group will pass through the Pratas Islands on its way to the exercise site to the southeast of Taiwan in the Philippine Sea,” said a military insider, who asked not to be named due to the sensitivity of the issue.

It was not clear whether both the Liaoning – the PLA’s only aircraft carrier to have achieved initial operating capability – and the Shandong, which was commissioned at the end of last year, would take part in the drills, or just one of them, the person said.

China’s first aircraft carrier, the Liaoning, or its sister ship, the Shandong, is expected to be involved in this summer’s drills. Photo: Handout

While other parts of the naval flotilla would be involved in landing exercises at a training site near Hainan, about 600km (370 miles) to the southwest of the Pratas – also known as the Dongsha or Tungsha Islands – the exercises would not be a rehearsal for seizing them, he said.

Select Voice

Choose your listening speed

Get through articles 2x faster

1.25x

250 WPM

Slow

Average

Fast

00:0000:00

1.25x