China's aircraft carrier group, Liaoning, the first such warship in People's Liberation Army Navy (PLAN), has ventured into the West Pacific for the first time, IHS Jane's Defence Weekly reported.
In a first, the carrier group was deployed beyond the First Island Chain where the South China Sea and East China Sea are located. The ships sailed through the Miyako Strait, close to Japanese Island of Okinawa, and then sailed past east of Taiwan, passing through Bashi Channel, that is in the north of Philippines and heading towards China's Hainan Island.
Liaoning was accompanied by Luyang III-class (Type 052D) destroyer (Changsha), two Luyang II-class (Type 052C) destroyers (Zhengzhou and Haikou), and two Jiangkai II-class (Type 054A) frigates (Yantai and Linyi). Before the aircraft carrier's transit through the Miyako Strait, a Jiangdao-class (Type 056) corvette and a Type 903A replenishment ship were seen with the group, but they do not seem to have passed the Strait, the report noted.
The carrier group's transit was monitored by Japan Maritime Self-Defense Force's (JMSDF) frigate and Lockheed Martin P-3C Orion maritime patrol aircraft and later by naval assets belonging to Taiwan.
Photographs posted online showed the carrier berthed in the southern naval base of Sanya, Hainan Island.
On the aircraft's flight deck, the Chinese Navy had at least 13 J-15 fighters and one Z-18 helicopter, photographs revealed.
China has been flexing its military muscles and has deployed its aircraft carrier, a symbol of naval power projection in the contested South China Sea.
With US President-designate Donald Trump intensifying his Twitter attacks on China and its aggressive stance in the South China Sea, China seems to be showing the world who is the boss in the neighbourhood.
Chinese Navy has grown bolder and stronger, and there are reports that it is building a jetty for the second aircraft carrier at the naval base that is 48km from Qingdao. The IHS Jane's Defence Weekly report said it was in an advanced state of construction in Dalian.
PLAN had recently seized a US Navy research glider in the South China Sea, but has since returned it. The US has maintained that the autonomous underwater vehicle (AUV) was gathering oceanographic data.
Beijing recently conducted its first live-fire exercise for Liaoning in the Bohai Sea.
Meanwhile, China has commissioned 23rd Type 054A frigate with anti-surface, anti-submarine capabilities for East Sea Fleet. It also commissioned 30th Jiangdao-class (Type 056) corvette to East Sea Fleet.
It has commenced the sea trials of new Type 901 replenishment ship built at Guangzhou Shipyard International's Longxue shipyard on the Pearl River, which will be providing logistics support for the aircraft carrier group.
China is all set to double its military spending to $233 billion in 2020 from $123 billion in 2010. Its defence scientists are also making progress in successfully developing several advanced aircraft.
Recently, images emerged of the Shenyang FC-31/J-31 stealth fighter in flight-testing. The FC-31, also called "poor man's" Joint Strike Fighter, is a lighter fifth-generation aircraft than the other twin-jet stealth aircraft, Chengdu J-20, which is also in testing.
China's neighbours like India were concerned with the aggressive military posturing by Chinese forces, apart from the fact that they are making rapid progress in developing new aircraft. According to reports, China's People's Liberation Army (PLA) is gearing up to induct the Xianglong, a high-altitude, long-endurance (HALE) UAV. China is also developing a tilt-rotor aircraft, which would be its "equivalent" to the US Bell-Boeing V-22 Osprey.
China looks much prepared to face any adversary, though countries neighbouring it, like Japan, Taiwan, Vietnam, Indonesia, Philippines and India, have been monitoring Chinese sabre-rattling in the region, be it in South China Sea or the Indian Ocean region.
