Chinese aircraft carriers in separate South China Sea, Pacific training drills

Shandong is conducting ‘combat-oriented exercises’ in the contested waterway, while the Liaoning is in the western Pacific

PLA is trying to get the two strike groups working together, which would mean they could pressure a target like Taiwan from different directions, expert says

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The Liaoning and its strike group are in the western Pacific for a training exercise. Photo: AFP

Published: 9:00pm, 21 Dec 2021Updated: 5:41pm, 30 Dec 2021

The Chinese navy’s two active aircraft carriers have been deployed for separate drills, in the contested South China Sea and the Pacific Ocean, and military observers say they could soon be operating together.

The Shandong – China’s first domestically built carrier, commissioned two years ago – has left its home port in Sanya, Hainan province for “combat-oriented exercises” in the South China Sea, the official People’s Daily reported on Sunday.

Drills will include fighter jet landings, damage control and maritime search and rescue, according to the report, which did not disclose the location of the exercises or when they would take place.

Meanwhile its sister ship, the Liaoning, led its strike group through Japan’s Miyako Strait into the western Pacific for drills on Wednesday last week. Japan sent its light aircraft carrier, the Izumo, and escort ships to tail and monitor the Chinese strike group.

The Liaoning was accompanied by a large destroyer, a frigate and a comprehensive supply ship and conducted flight operations involving helicopters and fighter jets in the East China Sea and Pacific Ocean, the Japanese defence ministry said.

The drills come as the USS Ronald Reagan carrier group, which patrols the Pacific, is back at its home port in Japan for the Christmas and New Year break, while the USS Carl Vinson is sailing from the Indian Ocean and has just entered the western Pacific.