The current mission by the US aircraft carrier USS John C. Stennis in the South China Sea, with its port visits to the Philippines over the weekend, is a clear show of force by the US military aimed at deterring China from making hostile moves, some observers said.
The Nimitz-class carrier docked in Manila on Saturday, after visiting Subic Bay on Friday, the day President Tsai Ing-wen (蔡英文) was inaugurated in Taipei.
“The presence of Stennis and its escort ships bring stability to the region, and sends out a strong message for China not to make any injudicious moves in the meantime,” said William Sharp, a visiting US research fellow at Academia Sinica in Taipei.
The Stennis is being escorted through by its own carrier strike group of two guided-missile destroyers (the USS Stockdale and USS Chung-Hoon), and two cruisers (USS Mobile Bay and USS William P. Lawrence).
Military experts said the Stennis and its strike group were operating in the northern sector of the South China Sea in the past few days, in sea lanes adjacent to the Philippines and in close proximity to Taiwan.
Although in official US pronouncements, the Stennis has been on a regular scheduled US 7th Fleet deployment since March 31 for routine patrols at sea, the Navy Times newspaper reported on March 4 that Washington was sending a “small armada” to the South China Sea as a show of force amid China “militarizing the region to guard its excessive territorial claims.”
Taiwanese political pundits said that Washington sending the carrier and its escort to patrol in waters near Taiwan last week was a strong signal to China, warning it against making any military provocations as Taiwan’s new president assumed office.
However, Wendell Minnick, Defense News Asia bureau chief in Taipei, said the Stennis is enforcing freedom of navigation to keep passages through sea lanes open for commercial shipping in the South China Sea, and also to provide assurance for preserving regional security under the US’ defense treaty arrangements with allies in the region.
Minnick said it is not necessary for US warships to patrol the area around Taiwan to project their presence, since the US also has Kadena Air Base on Okinawa, with fighter jets based at Kadena making regular patrols in the area, which could be within Taiwan’s airspace during a crisis in less than 20 minutes.
“The US military has aircraft patrolling in the sky, ships at sea, radar listening posts on land, at all hours day and night. They are in the South China Sea, East China Sea and in maritime zones near and around Taiwan,” he said.
The duty to safeguard Taiwan is still up to the Taiwanese, he added.
“It is not the responsibility of the US military to protect Taiwan or President Tsai. It is the responsibility of the Taiwan military, period. US aircraft carriers, along with other US naval vessels and aircraft, are on patrol in the region every day and every night, which is normal,” Minnick said.
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