China’s two operating aircraft carriers have been spotted conducting simultaneous operations in the Pacific for the first time, according to Japan’s Defense Ministry, as Beijing continues to highlight its growing military prowess ever farther from its shores.
Beijing confirmed late Tuesday that the two carriers, the Shandong and Liaoning, had conducted the training "to test the forces' capabilities in far seas defense and joint operations," Chinese Navy spokesperson Senior Capt. Wang Xuemeng said Tuesday, calling the exercises "routine training" that did not target at any specific country.
Defense Minister Gen Nakatani said earlier in the day that the Shandong had been spotted along with four other Chinese warships in Japan’s exclusive economic zone about 550 kilometers southeast of Miyako Island in Okinawa Prefecture on Saturday. The fleet was then spotted Monday in the EEZ north of Okinotorishima, Japan’s southernmost island some 1,700 km south of Tokyo, where it conducted flight operations with fighter jets and helicopters.
The other aircraft carrier, the Liaoning, had been spotted operating off Minamitorishima, Japan’s easternmost island, on Saturday and Sunday, making it the first Chinese aircraft carrier to cross the so-called second island chain, which covers a stretch of islands from Japan to Guam and the islands of Micronesia, Nakatani said.
"China is currently seeking to enhance the operational capabilities of its two aircraft carriers in distant maritime and airspace areas," Nakatani told a regular news conference.
The vast waters of the western Pacific Ocean have long been seen as one weak point in Japan's defense architecture, though Nakatani noted that the government, as part of its 2022 Defense Buildup Program, is working to deploy mobile early warning and control radars to the area to strengthen air defense capabilities there.
Asked about the challenges facing the Self-Defense Forces in the region, Nakatani said that Tokyo is "conducting seamless information gathering and surveillance," and "will demonstrate Japan's resolve and capability to deter any attempts to unilaterally change the status quo by force."
The defense minister also confirmed that Tokyo had made "appropriate representations" to China via diplomatic channels over the sailings, saying only that these included "a request to ensure that China's activities do not threaten Japan's security."
Beijing said Monday that the Chinese vessels' activities were fully consistent with international law and international practices.
"China pursues a national defense policy that is defensive in nature. We hope Japan will view those activities objectively and rationally," Foreign Ministry spokesman Lin Jian said.
Experts say the moves highlight the Chinese Navy’s growing ability to punch through the second island chain.
China routinely sends its vessels through the first island chain, which strings together the southern Ryukyu Islands and the Philippines. The island chain is home to numerous U.S. and Japanese military bases.
Both island chains are seen by Beijing as Cold War relics being used to contain China and limit its access to the Pacific.
Noting that China sent the two vessels for their first dual-carrier drills in the South China Sea last October, Collin Koh, a defense scholar at Singapore's S. Rajaratnam School of International Studies, said that it was only "a matter of time" that the ships would begin operating outside the first island chain in the open western Pacific Ocean waters.
"The signaling intent is pretty obvious here, targeting the U.S. and regional allies: loudly and clearly demonstrating that Beijing is undeterred in looking seaward and projecting military power far ashore, despite U.S. and allied deterrent efforts," he said.
Still, he said, while the Chinese Navy is becoming increasingly more familiarized with faraway waters, even carrier battle groups could easily become vulnerable considering the U.S., Japanese and other allied military buildup in the area — especially to long-range precision strike weapons such as shore-based anti-ship missile batteries.
"Signaling in peacetime mode is one thing, actual combat capability in times of conflict is another," Koh added.
The Chinese Navy's recent moves cap a series of activities that have unnerved Japan.
Late last month, the Defense Ministry in Tokyo announced for the first time that China had sent the Liaoning into the East China Sea, some 200 km from the Japanese-administered Senkaku Islands, for practice deploying fighter jets. The Senkakus are also claimed by China, which calls them the Diaoyu.
In another first, the Liaoning passed through a narrow waterway between Yonaguni and Iriomote islands in Okinawa Prefecture last September. Though that sailing was legal under international law, the Japanese government called it “unacceptable from the perspective of the security environment of Japan and the region.”
Yonaguni, Japan’s westernmost island, sits just 110 km east of flash point Taiwan.
China claims Taiwan as a renegade province that must be united with the mainland, by force if necessary. It routinely sends warships and warplanes around the island for large-scale military drills that the Defense Ministry in Tokyo says have “demonstrated at least part of Beijing’s invasion strategy.”
Beijing has poured funds into its aircraft carrier program, with its third and most advanced aircraft carrier, known as the Fujian, set for commissioning in the near future. The carrier began sea trials in May 2024 and embarked on an eighth round of trials last month.
Beijing has characterized the Fujian as “one of the most important” pieces of military hardware it is working on — and one that will take it closer to its goal of projecting its military far beyond its shores as leader Xi Jinping aims to build a “world-class military” by the middle of the century.
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