BEIJING (CHINA) – Two US carrier groups conducted joint exercises in the South China Sea on Tuesday, which comes a few days after a US warship sailed near Chinese-controlled islands in the disputed waters, even China condemned the United States for disrupting peace and stability.
The Theodore Roosevelt Carrier Strike Group and the Nimitz Carrier Strike Group “conducted a multitude of exercises aimed at increasing interoperability between assets as well as command and control capabilities”, the US Navy said, marking the first dual carrier operations in the busy waterway since July 2020.
In Beijing, Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesman Wang Wenbin said the frequent moves by US warships and aircraft into the South China Sea in a “show of force” was not conducive to regional peace and stability.
“China will continue to take necessary measures to firmly safeguard national sovereignty and security and work with countries in the region to firmly safeguard peace and stability in the South China Sea,” he said.
This move comes in the wake of China slamming the sailing of the destroyer, the USS John S McCain, near the Chinese-controlled Paracel Islands, which the United States calls a freedom of navigation operation, the first such mission by the US navy after President Joe Biden assumed office.
“We are committed to ensuring the lawful use of the sea that all nations enjoy under international law,” Rear Admiral Jim Kirk, commander of the Nimitz Carrier Strike Group, said in a statement.
China has been angered by recurrent US sailings near the islands it occupies and operates in the South China Sea. China says it has irrefutable sovereignty and has accused the United States of intentionally aggravating tension.
US warships sailing through the Taiwan Strait, which includes one last week, also marks the first such operation under the Biden administration. This has, however, invited the ire of China.
Speaking in Taipei, Taiwan President Tsai Ing-wen said US ships and aircraft showcasing freedom of navigation operations was reassuring.
“This demonstrates the clear US attitude towards challenges to the security status quo in the Indo-Pacific region,” she said.