The United States military has increased its efforts to deter China and North Korea by deploying three aircraft carriers to the western Pacific, despite concerns over the potential for a wider conflict in the Middle East.
The U.S. Navy allowed reporters from a few media outlets to board the aircraft carrier USS Carl Vinson for a training exercise with Japan in the Philippine Sea on Wednesday.
The Ships Deployed
The USS Carl Vinson sailed in formation with another U.S. carrier, the USS Theodore Roosevelt, and the Japanese helicopter destroyer JS Ise. Nine other vessels also participated in the exercise, according to a statement from the Japan Maritime Self-Defense Force.
USS Ronald Reagan, the forward-based aircraft carrier stationed in Yokosuka in Japan, is currently at its home port, meaning that three out of eleven U.S. carriers are in the Indo-Pacific. According to the U.S. Naval Institute, the occasion appears to be the first time in two years that the three U.S. carriers have been positioned near the first island chain, connecting Okinawa and Taiwan to the Philippines.
The Build-Up
The United States and its allies are increasingly worried that in the coming years Chinese President Xi Jinping could order his military to seize Taiwan, the democratically governed island that China considers its own territory. So, the U.S. military is taking a hard look at its own military readiness and trying to play catch-up in a critical area, its logistics network.
Reuters interviews with more than two dozen current and former U.S. officials found that American military logistics in the Pacific is one of its greatest vulnerabilities in any potential conflict over Taiwan. In response, the United States is trying to spread its military logistics hubs across the region – including warehouses in Australia, officials told Reuters. Asked about Reuters’ conclusions, the Pentagon said that the Department of Defense is working with allies to make U.S. forces more mobile and distributed.
The Chinese embassy in Washington did not directly address the Reuters report, but a spokesperson said the United States should “stop enhancing military contact with the Taiwan region” and should “stop creating factors that could heighten tensions in the Taiwan Strait.”
The Rising Tensions
According to the U.S. Navy, a Chinese naval spy ship was spotted 5 to 10 miles away from the USS Carl Vinson. The reconnaissance vessel was believed to be collecting intelligence on U.S. and Japanese capabilities and operations during the exercises.
While plans to deploy carriers are believed to have been finalized months ago, a series of demonstrations has served as a reminder that the military is not distracted from the Indo-Pacific, at a time when a regional war could erupt in the Middle East.
“It is a deterrence message,” said Jeffrey Hornung, a senior political scientist at the RAND Corporation. “The messaging will continue regardless of what conditions are like in other parts of the world because China is a pacing threat,” he said.
Where Are The Other Notable Carriers?
In the Middle East, USS Dwight Eisenhower is the only U.S. aircraft carrier handling the rising regional tensions. USS Gerald Ford, which was sent to the eastern Mediterranean to be within striking distance of Israel, left the region in January and was replaced by the assault ship USS Bataan.
USS Ronald Reagan assisted the operations through the Arabian Sea, in a rare relocation from the Indo-Pacific to the Middle East. Despite U.S. President Joe Biden’s administration making China a top priority in its national security strategy, this move created a carrier vacuum in the Indo-Pacific for months.
Situation On The Ground
China has vowed to unify Taiwan with the self-governed island and has not ruled out the use of force to that end. Beijing has called the China skeptic Lai Ching-te of Taiwan’s ruling Progressive Democratic Party, who was elected as Taiwan’s next president in mid-January, a threat to peace.
North Korea is another concern for the U.S. as Pyongyang continues to launch missiles and deepen defense ties with Russia.
“We know that the North Koreans continue to pursue advanced capabilities, including ballistic missile capabilities, that they want to be able to achieve long-range outcomes,” John Kirby, National Security Council spokesman, warned last week.
“Obviously, we’re going to do what we have to do to make sure we can protect the United States, protect our allies and partners,” Kirby noted, adding that Washington will seek more trilateral cooperation with Japan and South Korea.
