Latest news with #ChineseNavy
News24
2 days ago
- General
- News24
China escalates military pressure on Taiwan with ‘more provocative' aircraft carriers, ships
China conducted military expansion exercises around Taiwan, officials said. Up to 70 Chinese ships were monitored in May. A total of 75 Chinese aircraft were involved in three patrols near Taiwan. China deployed two aircraft carrier groups and dozens of ships in waters north and south of Taiwan in May, a Taiwanese security official said on Monday, as Beijing keeps up military pressure on the self-ruled island. Up to 70 Chinese ships, including navy vessels, were monitored from the Yellow Sea to the South China Sea from 1 to 27 May, a security official said on the condition of anonymity. Beijing has ramped up the deployment of fighter jets and warships around Taiwan in recent years as it pressures Taipei to accept its claims of sovereignty over the island. China has refused to rule out using force to bring Taiwan under its control, leaving the island to face the constant threat of invasion. 'Its military actions and grey-zone activities have included large-scale deployments across the entire island chain, involving comprehensive maximum pressure,' the security official said in remarks released on Monday. 'On average, there have been between 50 to 70 naval vessels and government ships as well as hundreds of sorties by various military aircraft continuously conducting harassment operations.' READ | 'Blatant provocation': Taiwan detects record 45 China aircraft, 14 warships near island Some of the ships passed through the Miyako Strait to the Western Pacific Ocean for 'long-distance training, including combined air-sea exercises', the official said. Another 30 Chinese vessels with no name, documentation or port of registry were detected near Taiwan's Penghu archipelago in the Taiwan Strait on 19 May and had been 'deliberately sent to harass', the official said. And a total of 75 Chinese aircraft were involved in three 'combat readiness patrols' near the island during the month, Taiwan's defence ministry figures show. Asia-Pacific's so-called first island chain links Okinawa, Taiwan and the Philippines, while the Yellow Sea is west of South Korea - all partners of the US and critical to its influence in the region. The Taiwanese security official said China's activities in May were 'more provocative than previously observed'. In one incident, Tokyo and Beijing exchanged diplomatic protests each accusing the other of 'violating' national airspace, after a Chinese helicopter and coast guard vessels faced off with a Japanese aircraft around disputed islands. The Chinese actions were a demonstration of 'military expansion' and were aimed at controlling the 'entire island chain and improving their capabilities', the official said. I-Hwa Cheng/AFP China's deployment coincided with Taiwanese President Lai Ching-te's speech on 20 May marking his first year in office and came ahead of an annual security forum in Singapore at the weekend. US Secretary of Defence Pete Hegseth told the Shangri-La Dialogue that China was 'credibly preparing' to use military force to upend the balance of power in Asia. Beijing, which did not send its Defence Minister Dong Jun to the summit, warned Washington 'should not play with fire'. 'It felt like they were in a state where they could announce something at any moment, trying to seize on some opportunity or excuse to act,' the Taiwanese official said of the Chinese. China has carried out several large-scale military drills around Taiwan since Lai took office.
Straits Times
7 days ago
- Politics
- Straits Times
China flexes military muscle with East Asian naval activity, sources say
FILE PHOTO: Members of the Chinese Navy attend the joint Navy exercise of Iran, China and Russia in the Gulf of Oman, Iran, March 12, 2025. Iranian Army/WANA (West Asia News Agency)/Handout via REUTERS/File Photo China has flexed its muscles this month by sending an unusually large number of naval and coast guard vessels through a swathe of East Asian waters, according to security documents and officials, in moves that have unnerved regional capitals. Since early May, China deployed fleets larger than usual, including navy, coast guard and other ships near Taiwan, the southern Japanese islands and the East and South China Seas, according to three regional security officials and documents of regional military activities reviewed by Reuters. On May 21 and May 27, for instance, China deployed nearly 60 and more than 70 ships, respectively, around three-quarters of them naval, the documents show. These included guided-missile frigates, destroyers and coast guard boats. Beijing also dispatched two aircraft carrier groups, with the Shandong now in the busy waterway of the South China Sea and the Liaoning off the southeastern coast of Taiwan, the documents show. "They are exerting pressure on the whole of the first island chain amid global geopolitical uncertainties," said one security official. The reference is to waters stretching from Japan through Taiwan, the Philippines and on to Borneo, enclosing the seas around China's coast. "They are trying to reinforce their dominance," the source said, adding that drills this month by the Liaoning, the oldest of China's three aircraft carriers, simulated attacks on foreign ships and aircraft around the East China Sea and the Yellow Sea. There was an "obvious" stepped-up Chinese naval presence this month, added a second source, who spoke on condition of anonymity, as did the first, citing the sensitivity of the intelligence assessment. "China clearly wants to show these are its home waters and it can operate when and where it wants," the source said. China's defence ministry did not respond to a request for comment. LIVE FIRE DRILLS Over the past two weeks China declared several live-fire drill areas off its coast, including last week one directly facing southwestern Taiwan. Last Wednesday, Chinese state television showed images of amphibious drills in the southern province of Fujian, across the strait from Taiwan, but did not give an exact location. This week, Japan has been tracking the Liaoning and its accompanying warships through the southern Japanese islands and into the Western Pacific. China seems to be trying to improve its capacity to operate far from the Chinese coast, Japan's Chief Cabinet Secretary Yoshimasa Hayashi said. "The Japanese government intends to keep a close eye on relevant movement and do its utmost in carrying out monitoring and surveillance activities," he told reporters on Wednesday. Speaking in Beijing, Chinese foreign ministry spokesperson Mao Ning said the ships' activities were in line with international law and practice and Japan should "look at them objectively and rationally". China has kept up its stand-off with the Philippines in the South China Sea, where its foreign ministry on Friday urged the Philippines to immediately stop "infringement and provocation". The Philippine Navy's spokesperson on South China Sea issues, Rear Admiral Roy Vincent Trinidad, told Reuters that China's "illegal presence" in the maritime zones of Southeast Asian states "has been disturbing the peace in the region and is contrary to pronouncements of its 'peaceful rise'." The spike in Chinese military activity has also come as Taiwan President Lai Ching-te marked the anniversary this month of a year in office. China has staged three major rounds of war games since the inauguration of Lai, whom it calls a "separatist". On Wednesday, Taiwan's defence ministry said the Liaoning was off the island's southeast coast, adding that Taiwan would raise its combat preparedness in line with the threat level. REUTERS Join ST's Telegram channel and get the latest breaking news delivered to you.
Yomiuri Shimbun
7 days ago
- General
- Yomiuri Shimbun
Chinese Aircraft Perform 120 Takeoffs, Landings from Liaoning; Carrier Passed North of Senkakus on Sunday, Monday
Yomiuri Shimbun file photo The Liaoning, a Chinese Navy aircraft carrier Fighter jets and helicopters performed 120 takeoffs and landings from the Liaoning, a Chinese Navy aircraft carrier, on Sunday and Monday, the Defense Ministry announced on Tuesday. At one point, the Liaoning was located about 240 kilometers north of Kuba Island, one of the Senkaku Islands in Okinawa Prefecture. It then moved to the Pacific Ocean.
NHK
25-05-2025
- Politics
- NHK
Chinese fighter jets take off from, land on aircraft carrier off Senkaku Islands
Japan's Defense Ministry announced on Sunday that the Chinese Navy's aircraft carrier Liaoning sailed in the East China Sea off the coast of the Senkaku Islands in Okinawa Prefecture. The ministry says fighter jets took off from the carrier and landed on it. The ministry said Liaoning and four other ships were confirmed to be sailing in the ocean about 200 kilometers north of Kubashima Island at around 7 a.m. on Sunday. It said fighter jets and helicopters were confirmed taking off and landing on the Liaoning. The Japan Air Self-Defense Force scrambled fighter jets. There was no violation of Japan's airspace. This is the first time the defense ministry has announced takeoffs and landings of fighter jets using a Chinese aircraft carrier sailing in the East China Sea. The ministry said Japan is going through diplomatic channels to express interest in the recent stepped-up activities of the Chinese military. On May 3, a China Coast Guard helicopter violated Japan's territorial airspace around the Senkaku Islands, and the ministry continues surveillance in the area.
BBC News
20-05-2025
- Politics
- BBC News
A Philippines island defying Beijing in the South China Sea
At just 37 hectares, the Philippines-controlled island of Pagasa – or "hope" - is smaller than Buckingham Palace. There is almost nothing 300 or so inhabitants live in a cluster of small, wooden houses. They fish in the clear, turquoise waters, and grow what vegetables they can in the sandy they are not alone in these disputed waters: just off shore, to the west, lies an armada of are all Chinese, from the navy, the coastguard or the so-called maritime militia – large fishing vessels repurposed to maintain Chinese dominance of this sea. As our plane approached the island we counted at least the past 10 years, China has been expanding its presence in the South China Sea, taking over submerged coral reefs, building three large air bases on them, and deploying hundreds of ships, to reinforce its claim to almost all of the strategic sea lanes running south from the great exporting cities on the Chinese of the South East Asian countries which also claim islands in the same sea have dared to push back against China; only Vietnam and the Philippines have done so. The militaries of both countries are much smaller than China's, but they are holding on to a handful of reefs and – also known as Thitu and other names, as it is claimed by several other countries – is the largest of these. What makes it exceptional, though, is the civilian population, found nowhere else on the islands of the South China Sea. From the point of view of the Philippines this, and the fact that Pagasa is solid land, not a partially submerged reef or sandy cay, strengthens its legal claims in the area."Pagasa is very important to us," Jonathan Malaya, assistant director-general of the Philippines National Security Council, tells the BBC."It has a runway. It can support life – it has a resident Filipino community, and fishermen living there."And given the size of the island, one of the few that did not need reclaiming from the sea, under international law it generates its own territorial sea of 12 nautical miles."So it is, in a way, a linchpin for the Philippine presence."Reaching Pagasa is a two-to-three-day boat ride from the Philippines island of Palawan, or a one-hour plane ride, but both are at the mercy of frequent stormy they surfaced the runway two years ago, and lengthened it to 1,300m (4,600ft), only small planes could land. Now they can bring in big C130 transport aircraft. Travelling in them, as we did, is a bit like riding a bus in rush has to be brought from the mainland, which is why our plane was packed, floor to ceiling, with mattresses, eggs, bags of rice, a couple of motorbikes and piles of luggage – not to mention lots of military personnel, most of whom had to stand for the entire flight. A lot has changed in recent years. There is a new hangar, big enough to shelter aircraft during storms. They are building a control tower and dredging a small harbour to allow bigger boats to dock. We were driven around the island by some of the Philippines marines who are stationed there, though given its size it hardly seemed necessaryThe Philippines seized Pagasa from Taiwan in 1971, when the Taiwanese garrison left it during a typhoon. It was formally annexed by the Philippines in the government started encouraging civilians to settle there. But they need support to survive on this remote sliver of land. Families get official donations of food, water and other groceries every month. They now have electricity and mobile phone connectivity, but that only came four years from government jobs, fishing is the only viable way to make a living, and since the arrival of the Chinese flotillas even that has become Larry Hugo has lived on the island for 16 years, and has chronicled the increasing Chinese control of the area. He filmed the initial construction on Subi Reef, around 32km (20 miles) from Pagasa, which eventually became a full-size military air base. One of his videos, showing his little wooden boat being nearly rammed by a Chinese coastguard ship in 2021 made him a minor celebrity. But Chinese harassment has forced him to fish in a smaller area closer to home."Their ships are huge compared to ours. They threaten us, coming close and sounding their horns to chase us away. They really scare us. So I no longer go to my old fishing grounds further away. I now have to fish close to the island, but the fish stocks here are falling, and it is much harder to fill our tubs like we used to."Realyn Limbo has been a teacher on the island for 10 years, and seen the school grow from a small hut to full-size school teaching more than 100 pupils, from kindergarten to 18 years old."To me this island is like paradise," she says. "All our basic needs are taken care of. It is clean and peaceful – the children can play basketball or go swimming after school. We don't need shopping malls or all that materialism."Pagasa is really quiet. In the fierce midday heat we found most people snoozing in hammocks, or playing music on their porches. We came across Melania Alojado, a village health worker, rocking a small baby to help it sleep."The biggest challenge for us is when people, especially children, fall ill," she says. "If it is serious then we need to evacuate them to the mainland. I am not a registered nurse, so I cannot perform complicated medical tasks. But planes are not always available, and sometimes the weather is too rough to travel."When that happens we just have to care for them as best we can." But she too values the tranquillity of island life. "We are free of many stresses. We get subsidised food, and we can grow some of our own. In the big city everything you do needs money."We saw a few new houses being built, but there really isn't room for Pagasa to accommodate many more people. With very few jobs, young people usually leave the island once they finish school. For all of its sleepy charm, and stunning white-sand beaches, it has the feel of a garrison community, holding the line against the overpowering Chinese presence which is clearly visible just offshore."The Chinese at the airbase on Subi Reef always challenge us when we approach Pagasa," the pilot says. "They always warn us we are entering Chinese territory without permission."Do they ever try to stop you? "No, it's a routine. We tell them this is Philippines territory. We do this every time."Jonathan Malaya says his government has made a formal diplomatic protest every week to the Chinese Embassy over the presence of its ships in what the Philippines views as the territorial waters of Pagasa. This is in marked contrast to the previous administration of President Rodrigo Duterte, which avoided confrontations with China in the hope of getting more investment in the Philippines."I think we will get more respect from China if we hold our ground, and show them we can play this game as well. But the problem of democracies like the Philippines is policies can change with new administrations. China does not have that problem."
