Why US Aircraft Carriers are in China's Neighborhood

Last week, two US aircraft carriers and their compatriots conducted operations in the South China Sea. As the Pacific summer sun shone down on flight decks where aircraft continuously departed and flew over the vast blue sea, China watched on. The American carrier strike groups were in its neighborhood, not far from its shores, conducting exercises that the US said were meant to assure allies and partners that it was committed to protecting peace and stability in the region. But China saw them as something more malign, an infringement of its sovereignty, a challenge to its rise, a reminder that America still has a significant and powerful military presence nearby.

What happened?

On July 4, the USS Ronald Reagan and the USS Nimitz - two aircraft carriers - along with four other warships, began naval exercises in the South China Sea. Not far away, near an archipelago off China’s southern shores known as the Paracel Islands, China was conducting its own exercises.

(Source: Google Maps)

Vietnam, which claims the Paracels, rebuked China for violating its sovereignty, while the Philippines defense secretary described the exercises as “highly provocative”. On July 2 the US, in line with its increasingly critical views of Chinese actions in the region, said the exercises were the latest move by China to “assert unlawful maritime claims and disadvantage its Southeast Asian neighbors in the South China Sea”. China rebuffed Washington’s criticism and said that the US exercises were an attempt to “flex its muscles” and an endangerment to regional peace and stability.

Why does it matter?

The Paracels are some of a number of islands, maritime features, and waters in the South China Sea that several countries lay claim to in a simmering, regional territorial dispute. The Paracel Islands in particular are claimed by China, Taiwan and Vietnam. Another disputed area in the sea are the Spratly Islands, an archipelago west of the Philippines. In all, China claims 80 percent of the sea under its controversial Nine-Dash Line, which it justifies on historical rights. In 2016, an international tribune ruled in a case brought forth by the Philippines that China’s vast territorial claims were illegitimate under international law. China refused to acknowledge the decision, and the Philippines never pressed the matter after its new president, Rodrigo Duterte, took office with the aim of establishing better relations with Beijing.

(Source: Voice of America)

Speaking to the Wall Street Journal, Rear Admiral George Wikoff - the officer in charge of the US exercises - seemed to suggest that the exercises weren’t a direct response to the Chinese ones, but rather pre-planned operations intended to uphold Washington’s commitment to “a free and open Indo-Pacific”. Nonetheless, it was the first time since 2014 that two carrier strike groups had operated in the South China Sea. By working together rather than individually, dual carrier strike groups are able to provide significantly more options and capabilities to military commanders and can launch up to 300 aircraft a day.

As China has grown more powerful under President Xi Jinping, it has increasingly sought to strengthen its military capabilities and enforce its controversial territorial claims in the South China Sea. One way China has done this is through the creation and militarization of islands, reefs, and other maritime features. These have allowed China to expand its military reach and attempts to legitimize its sweeping claims to the South China Sea. Another method has been by sailing vessels into disputed waters and its use of what some call a “maritime militia”. Recent examples of these strategies include a Chinese surveillance ship sailing through Vietnamese waters last year and the reported sinking of a Vietnamese fishing boat by a Chinese surveillance ship in April. While China isn’t the only country that has militarized posts or sent vessels into disputed waters, its actions have been more excessive and forceful than those of other countries.

Trillions of dollars of trade pass annually through the South China Sea. It also holds vast amounts of resources, such as natural gas and oil and fishing grounds. As such, much is at stake, and it is in the interests of the US and its allies and partners to safeguard stability and safe travel through the region - what the US calls a Free and Open Indo-Pacific. One way the US does this is through Freedom of Navigation Operations (FONOPs) in which US aircraft and vessels pass through and by disputed territory to uphold the rights of countries to freely travel under international law. In other cases, like this past week, it also conducts military exercises. Regardless of which variation of FONOPs the US chooses, these operations are ultimately meant to show that Washington does not recognize China's claims beyond its immediate borders.

The US isn’t doing this alone, however. Partners and allies like Australia, Japan, and India have joined in with similar or identical operations. In April, an Australian frigate joined three US naval ships in exercises in the South China Sea. Last month, the USS Gabrielle Giffords trained with two Japanese Maritime Self Defense Force training vessels in the sea as well. And at the beginning of this month, India and Japan conducted joint naval exercises in the adjacent Indian Ocean.

On the diplomatic front, countries are also making noise. On Thursday, Japan and Australia both expressed concerns about recent events in the East and South China Seas, though they did not name a particular country. Just a few weeks prior to China’s exercise near the Paracels, a bloc of Southeast Asian countries had also expressed concern about recent events in the region, with comments that experts said were directed toward China. India, Japan, Australia, and the US have also grown closer over shared concerns regarding China, leading to the strengthening of a “Quad” security pact. India is reportedly planning to invite Australia to join multilateral military exercises with the US and Japan, and it has also suggested the possibility of launching its own version of Washington’s Free and Open Indo-Pacific.

Yet even as tensions rise between China, the US, and its allies and partners, some government officials have attempted to calm - or at least manage - relations. Last week, Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi proposed that US and Chinese think tanks compose three lists that the governments of both countries could use to manage disputes and disagreements. The first list, he said, would highlight areas in which China and the US could work together, the second would focus on negotiable disagreements, and the last would identify areas that neither will compromise on. While his suggestion may not move beyond just a suggestion, it does reflect a willingness by some government officials to prevent relations from getting worse.

In the meantime, both sides looked posed to move forward with efforts to protect and enforce their interests. As the US conducts more FONOPs and China continues to build up militarized islands and enforce its territorial claims, relations will come under heavier strain. While conflict is not inevitable, such actions threaten to push the countries further apart and raise the risk of confrontation.