Beijing flexes muscles with South China Sea exercises

Beijing: China continued to flex its muscles in the South China Sea, with its first aircraft carrier conducting exercises in the disputed area with a flotilla of naval ships amid tensions with the US following President-elect Donald Trump’s telephone call to the Taiwanese President.

A naval formation consisting of aircraft carrier Liaoning has conducted take-off and landing drills in the South China Sea on Monday, state-run Xinhua news agency quoted an official as saying. The formation, which is on a “cross-sea area” training exercise, involved J-15 fighter jets, as well as several ship-borne helicopters, the official said without mentioning specific numbers.

Complex hydrological and meteorological conditions in the South China Sea as well as a cold front in area have posed some challenges, but the drill provided important experience in the build-up of combat capability of the aircraft carrier formation, he said. Officials also say that the carrier is conducting a series of exercises to test its systems and to work out an appropriate formation of ships and submarines to move along with it.

Liaoning, a refit of the Soviet-era warship, has been pressed into exercises in the middle of last month during which it conducted maiden live fire drills on a massive scale along with a host of naval ships, aircraft and submarines, four years after it was commissioned. China is currently building its second aircraft carrier. Chinese Navy said the drills conducted in the Bohai Sea involved dozens of ships and aircraft as well as several air-to-air, air-to-ship and ship-to-air missiles.

Liaoning has been conducting exercises since then and even travelled close to Taiwan in a show of strength. The exercises followed as China struck a more aggressive postures over the disputed South China Sea issue.