China's Liaoning carrier strike group has passed the Philippines' southern waters and turned northeast, putting it in the same sea as the US carrier Theodore Roosevelt, which is taking part in the US-Japan Keen Sword exercise in the Philippine Sea.
Liberty Times reported in the early hours of the 26th, citing the South China Morning Post, that the Liaoning strike group left the first island chain last week and reached the Philippines' southernmost waters. The SCMP, citing Philippine broadcaster BNC, said the group reached a point about 25 nautical miles east-southeast of Balut Island on the 23rd before turning northeast.
광고 문의 · 300×250The group is reported to include Type 055 destroyers Wuxi and Anshan and Type 052D destroyer Huainan, four ships in all. It left port on the 14th, is expected to deploy for several weeks and is on the Liaoning's second Western Pacific training cycle this year. Japan's Ministry of Defense reportedly said it passed the Miyako Strait into the Pacific on the 14th and headed toward the South China Sea the next day, while BNC said Philippine Navy vessels shadowed it through the Basilan Strait on the 22nd.
The US Side
The US 7th Fleet said on social media on the 22nd that the Nimitz-class USS Theodore Roosevelt was operating in the Philippine Sea with ships from Japan, Australia, Canada and France as part of the Keen Sword multinational force. The biennial exercise runs from the 19th to the 29th in Japan and nearby waters this year.
Liberty Times said the Liaoning's route runs counterclockwise from the northern Philippines around the western coast, the reverse of its October 2024 exercise. However, the reports do not confirm whether the two carriers actually closed on each other or met directly, and official comment from China's Defense Ministry and the US Navy on the current situation has not been confirmed.
Beijing's Account and What Is Unclear
China Central Television said on the 24th that during June far-seas training Japanese ships and aircraft repeatedly shadowed the group at close range, which it described as harassment and provocation. CCTV claimed the frigate Luohe drove off Japanese ships and Liaoning's J-15s intercepted a Japanese P-3C patrol aircraft. This is China's account; Japan's position was not included in the report.
As to intent, Liberty Times read the move as apparently aimed at Keen Sword, but that is the paper's interpretation, and no purpose has been publicly confirmed by Chinese authorities. What the strike group does next in the Philippine Sea will depend on further statements from the countries concerned.
