China continuously conducts military exercises at sea

Báo Thanh niênBáo Thanh niên01/08/2023


Many exercises

According to the announcement of the China Maritime Safety Administration, the country's army conducted a large military exercise in the East Sea, taking place from July 29 to August 2.

The exercise area stretches from Hainan Island to part of the East Sea, including Vietnam’s Paracel Islands and Macclesfield Bank, a reef about 75 nautical miles from the Paracel Islands. During the exercise, China prohibits ships from entering the area where the exercise is held. The exercise area is quite large, but China has not officially announced the content of the exercise.

Trung Quốc liên tục tập trận trên biển - Ảnh 1.

The frigate Suining (551) moves behind the frigate Mianyang (528) during an exercise in July.

In addition, the Global Times, a newspaper affiliated with the People's Daily, reported on July 30 that China's Shandong aircraft carrier had just conducted a series of exercises that "created new breakthroughs." According to the Global Times, a video accompanying the press release showed at least six additional warships, including a Type 055 destroyer, two Type 052D destroyers, two Type 054A frigates and a support ship escorting the Shandong aircraft carrier in the aircraft carrier strike group to conduct the above operation.

The newspaper quoted some Chinese experts as saying that the Shandong could soon begin a new offshore voyage beyond the first island chain. Passing the first island chain is understood to mean approaching the western Pacific, an area where the Chinese navy has recently sought to expand its activities, including deploying aircraft carriers for exercises.

Recently, the Global Times also published some images of the exercise of two missile-carrying warships, the Mianyang frigate (Type 053H3) and the Suining frigate (Type 056A), which had just completed an exercise in mid-July.

The newspaper did not provide information on the exercise area but said that the two frigates were part of the fleet of the Southern Theater Command of the Chinese military. The Southern Theater Command is the force responsible for operations covering the entire East Sea. According to the images above, the exercise also included launching drones from frigates. On the same day, July 30, the Electronic Information Portal of the Central Military Commission of China posted an image of the J-10 multi-role fighter jet of the Southern Theater Command that had just conducted an exercise, but did not specify the exercise area. In recent years, China has frequently deployed J-10s in the East Sea.

Trung Quốc liên tục tập trận trên biển - Ảnh 2.

Drone sortie on frigate Mianyang during exercise in July

Beijing's hidden meaning

The exercise from July 29 to August 2 took place in the context of China, the US and its allies continuously conducting many military activities in the East Sea and neighboring waters. Nearly 3 years ago, in August 2020, amid many military activities taking place in the East Sea, China also conducted an exercise with a large blockade area. Regarding the above exercise, on the evening of August 26, 2020, the South China Morning Post reported that on the same day, China fired 2 anti-ship ballistic missiles, including Dong Feng 21 (DF-21) and Dong Feng 26 (DF-26), into the East Sea. Both missiles are said to be aimed at targets in the sea area between Hainan Island and the Paracel Islands.

With a range of up to 4,000 km and the ability to carry nuclear warheads, the DF-26 also has a version used to attack aircraft carriers, so Beijing introduced it with names such as "anti-ship killer" and "aircraft carrier killer". The DF-21 has a range of about 1,800 km and Chinese state media described the DF-21D version as the world's first anti-ship ballistic missile or "aircraft carrier killer".

Responding to Thanh Nien , Mr. Carl O. Schuster (former Director of Operations of the Joint Intelligence Center - Pacific Command of the US Navy and currently teaching at the University of Hawaii - Pacific on international relations and history) once pointed out: "Anti-ship ballistic missiles are part of China's blockade, anti-access strategy (A2/AD) to push the US out of the western Pacific".

Therefore, while Washington increases the activities of warships in the region, the firing of DF-21, DF-26 or anti-ship missiles is seen as a deterrent message from Beijing.

US General Reveals How to Deal with China in the Pacific

AFP on July 31 quoted Major General Joseph Ryan, commander of the 12,000-strong 25th Infantry Division on the island of Oahu in the state of Hawaii (USA), revealing how to deal with China in the Pacific.

Mr. Ryan said Beijing has a “very clear” advantage in the region, citing China’s expanding military defenses, long-range missile capabilities and the ability to easily deploy forces and equipment in the Pacific. Conversely, in the event of a conflict, the US and its allies would have to navigate international waters or areas under the sovereignty of multiple countries, requiring their permission and mobilizing air, land and sea assets.

Therefore, the US will rely on allies instead of expanding its forces to counter any military threat from China in the Pacific.

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