China's Liaoning aircraft carrier group concluded over 40 days of drills in the South China Sea and western Pacific, reporting multiple 'provocations' and surveillance by Japanese warships and aircraft.
The drills and reported encounters highlight ongoing military tensions and surveillance activities between China and Japan in the strategically important western Pacific region.
China's Liaoning aircraft carrier and its accompanying vessels have returned to a Chinese port after completing more than 40 days of drills in the South China Sea and the western Pacific Ocean, according to Chinese state broadcaster CCTV. The exercises were described as routine training organized in accordance with annual plans, focusing on combat readiness, including air defense, anti-ship strikes, support missions, long-range rescue, and live-fire exercises.
The carrier group conducted multiple rounds of ship-air offensive and defensive drills, as well as joint exercises with an amphibious assault ship group in the western Pacific to enhance coordination in far-sea operations. During the training, the Liaoning carrier group reportedly handled "repeated close-range tracking, harassment and provocation" by Japanese ships and aircraft professionally and prudently.
In early June, Japan's defence ministry had reported monitoring the Liaoning aircraft carrier and its accompanying vessels operating east of the Philippines' Luzon island in late May. The People's Liberation Army (PLA) stated that its Liaoning and Shandong carrier formations recently completed combat training on the high seas and returned safely to their home ports. The PLA also noted that both carriers conducted joint combat and systems training, reconnaissance, early warning, anti-strike, sea assault, air defense, and night flight training under combat conditions. Footage released by CCTV showed fighter jets taking off and landing from the carriers' decks.