China flexes military muscle with East Asian naval activity sources say

BEIJING – China flexed its military muscle earlier in May by sending an unusually large number of naval and coast guard vessels through a swathe of East Asian waters, according to security documents and officials, in moves that have unnerved regional capitals.

Since early May, China deployed fleets larger than usual – including navy, coast guard and other ships – near Taiwan, the southern Japanese islands, and the East and South China Seas, according to three regional security officials and documents of regional military activities reviewed by Reuters.

On May 21 and May 27, for instance, China deployed nearly 60 and more than 70 ships, respectively, around three-quarters of them naval, the documents show. These included guided-missile frigates, destroyers and coast guard boats.

Beijing also dispatched two aircraft carrier groups, with the Shandong now in the busy waterway of the South China Sea and the Liaoning off the south-eastern coast of Taiwan, the documents show.

“They are exerting pressure on the whole of the first island chain amid global geopolitical uncertainties,” said one security official, referring to waters stretching from Japan through Taiwan, the Philippines and on to Borneo, enclosing the seas around China’s coast.

“They are trying to reinforce their dominance,” the source said, adding that drills earlier in May by the Liaoning, the oldest of China’s three aircraft carriers, simulated attacks on foreign ships and aircraft around the East China Sea and Yellow Sea.

There was an “obvious” stepped-up Chinese naval presence in May, added a second source, who spoke on condition of anonymity, as did the first, citing the sensitivity of the intelligence assessment.

“China clearly wants to show these are its home waters, and it can operate when and where it wants,” the source said.

China’s Defence Ministry did not respond to a request for comment.