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Economic Times
19-07-2025
- Politics
- Economic Times
China's dual aircraft carrier drills in Pacific rattle US and Japan
TIL Creatives Two Chinese aircraft carriers seen in Pacific for first time, Japan says (image for reference) In an escalating display of military might and maritime ambition, China for the first time deployed two aircraft carriers—the Liaoning and the Shandong —in extensive, coordinated drills well beyond its coastal waters. The rare show of synchronized naval power sent shockwaves through Japan and the United States, heightening tensions in a region already teetering under geopolitical June 2025, Japanese defense officials tracked both carriers conducting exercises east of Iwo Jima, about 1,200 kilometers south of Tokyo and roughly equidistant from the strategic U.S. base in Guam. The carriers were accompanied by an array of escorts, and their forces executed over 1,000 aircraft takeoffs and landings over the course of weeks, a much higher tempo than previously seen. While the Liaoning sailed close to Japan's exclusive economic zone near isolated islands such as Minamitorishima, both carriers remained in international waters. For Tokyo and Washington, this marked a clear effort by Beijing to test boundaries and assert operational capabilities well beyond China's immediate periphery. 'This is the first time China has demonstrated its ability to operate two carriers simultaneously beyond the first island chain,' said Christopher Sharman, China Maritime Studies Institute Director at the U.S. Naval War College. 'It's a glimpse into their ambitions for a blue-water navy.' Military analysts and regional observers interpret the Chinese maneuvers as a calculated message. While the People's Liberation Army Navy (PLAN) has previously conducted drills near Taiwan and within the South China Sea, operating two carriers so far from the mainland demonstrates both growing confidence and capability. Narushige Michishita, a strategist at Japan's National Graduate Institute for Policy Studies, warned of the implications for Taiwan: 'Chinese aircraft carriers could be key in enforcing a blockade on Taiwan or deterring foreign intervention. These vessels are not just status symbols—they're instruments of coercion.' The fact that these drills occurred near Guam, a linchpin U.S. military hub, and Iwo Jima—where Japan and the U.S. fought a pivotal WWII battle—only adds to the compared numerically, China's carrier fleet still lags behind the United States. However, the progress is palpable, and narrowing the capability gap remains a clear focus for of 2025, China operates three aircraft carriers: Liaoning, Shandong, and Fujian. The Chinese carriers are mainly diesel-powered, although the newest ship, Fujian, features the advanced Electromagnetic Aircraft Launch System (EMALS).The United States deploys a fleet of 11 nuclear-powered aircraft carriers, including the renowned Nimitz and Ford classes. When it comes to onboard aircraft capacity, Chinese carriers like the Shandong can accommodate up to 36 aircraft, while American carriers can launch and recover more than 60 aircraft each. In terms of operational experience, China has accumulated over a decade of carrier operations, whereas the United States boasts more than 70 years of expertise in operating these powerful naval assets. China's newest carrier, the Fujian , is undergoing sea trials and is expected to join the fleet by late 2025. It represents China's leap toward modern aviation capabilities, featuring electromagnetic catapults (EMALS)—a tech the U.S. only recently deployed on its Ford-class carriers. Amid the dual-carrier drills, Japanese defense officials raised concerns over airspace violations. Chinese fighters flew provocative maneuvers near Japanese reconnaissance aircraft. In multiple instances, these intercepts came within dangerously close range. Japan's Defense Minister Minoru Kihara emphasized, 'China's actions are escalating the security situation in the Indo-Pacific. We view these exercises as part of a larger pattern of coercion.' As a response, Japan has been bolstering its coastal defenses, expanding military bases on remote islands, and integrating more closely with U.S. forces under its revised national defense United States, whose Indo-Pacific Command oversees military operations spanning Japan, Guam, the Philippines, and beyond, is closely watching these developments. The Pentagon emphasized that this marks a growing shift in China's global military outlook. The US Navy, while maintaining superior aircraft carrier tech and global logistics, must now contend with a Chinese navy that is both growing and increasingly active in contested maritime zones. The drills are not just about hardware or pilot training—they signal China's vision for itself on the world stage. Global military planners have long watched China's carrier program as a benchmark of how far it wants to go. Now, the message is clear: Beijing intends to rival—even challenge—the free operations of U.S. and allied forces in the Pacific. 'Politically, aircraft carriers are the ultimate status symbols,' says Timothy Heath, senior international defense researcher at RAND Corporation. 'China's leadership values them as tools of prestige, deterrence, and regional dominance.' For Japan, the U.S., and other Indo-Pacific democracies, the clock is ticking to ensure their strategic advantage holds.
Miami Herald
30-06-2025
- Politics
- Miami Herald
China Research Ship Spotted on NATO's Doorstep
China continues to expand its military reach around the world as one of its naval ships was seen transiting the Strait of Gibraltar and heading into the Atlantic Ocean over the weekend. The presence of the Chinese navy near NATO member states comes as the United States has dispatched an aircraft carrier-led strike group from the East Coast for a mission in Europe. Newsweek has contacted the Chinese defense and foreign ministries for comment by email. The Chinese military possesses the world's largest navy by hull count, with more than 370 vessels in service-enabling Beijing to flex its military muscle both within and beyond East Asia. In January, a Chinese three-ship flotilla concluded a 339-day overseas mission, during which it carried out escort missions, port visits and war games across Asia, Africa and Europe. Situated between Morocco, Spain and the British overseas territory of Gibraltar, the Strait of Gibraltar serves as a passage for about 300 ships daily. American warships, along with those of other NATO allies, frequently transit this key strait as part of their operations. A Chinese Type 636 distant-ocean survey ship crossed the Strait of Gibraltar westward from the Mediterranean to the Atlantic Ocean on Saturday afternoon local time, according to Daniel Ferro-a Gibraltar-based user on X, formerly Twitter-who photographed the ship. This type of Chinese naval vessel collects oceanographic and meteorological data to support chart production and the development of forecasting systems as the country's navy expands its geographic operations, according to a report prepared by the U.S. Naval War College. The mission of the Chinese survey ship-operated by the People's Liberation Army Navy-remains unclear. It is also not clear whether the vessel-which, as Ferro noted, is "a long way from home"-will make any port calls during its deployment in the Atlantic Ocean. Before the Chinese navy's transit toward the Atlantic Ocean, the U.S. Navy deployed USS Gerald R. Ford-the world's largest aircraft carrier-from Naval Station Norfolk in Virginia on June 24 for what the service described as a "regularly scheduled deployment" in Europe. The aircraft carrier forms a strike group with the destroyers USS Mitscher, USS Mahan, USS Winston S. Churchill, USS Bainbridge and USS Forrest Sherman, providing "increased capacity" to deter adversaries and project power on a global scale, the U.S. Navy said. It remains to be seen whether the Gerald R. Ford will move further east to the Middle East following strikes between the U.S. and Iran. Two other U.S. aircraft carriers-USS Nimitz and USS Carl Vinson-are in the region, according to U.S. Naval Institute News. A report prepared by the U.S. Naval War College in 2018 said: "The geographic expansion of Chinese naval operations has created intense demands to speed mastery of the 'ocean battlespace environment' in new ocean areas. Some of these demands are met by the [People's Liberation Army Navy] itself. The Chinese Navy, like the U.S. Navy, possesses a corps of meteorologists and oceanographers that support the fleet." U.S. Navy Rear Admiral Paul Lanzilotta, the commander of the Gerald R. Ford Carrier Strike Group, said in a news release on June 24: "Our force stands prepared and ready to execute sustained, multi-domain operations at sea, wherever and whenever tasked, in support of American security and economic prosperity." China is expected to continue deploying its naval fleet across various oceans to challenge U.S. naval dominance and assert its influence. Related Articles Trump to Announce 'Wealthy' TikTok Buyer Group in Two WeeksDonald Trump Notches His Best Week YetExclusive: Democrat on How Trump's Tariffs Could Reshape Key Iowa RaceChina Makes Another High-Speed Rail Breakthrough 2025 NEWSWEEK DIGITAL LLC.
Yahoo
30-04-2025
- Politics
- Yahoo
Keith Stokes named R.I.'s second historian laureate
Keith Stokes of Newport has been appointed as Rhode Island's historian laureate. 'My mission is to illuminate Rhode Island and America's past in a way that inspires us all, nurturing a collective sense of identity and purpose,' he says. (Photo courtesy of Keith Stokes) The head of Rhode Island's diversity office will be the state's second historian laureate. Keith Stokes will take over the voluntary role of delivering lectures about Rhode Island's past at special events and formal ceremonies, Rhode Island Secretary of State Gregg Amore announced Tuesday. The state established the position in 2012. State law specifies that the historian laureate serves a five-year term. Stokes, a Newport resident, will serve through April 30, 2030. Stokes will make his first appearance as historian laureate at the Rhode Island Independence Day event at the Rhode Island State House on Saturday, May 3. He said he was honored and humbled to be the state's historian laureate. 'I am profoundly honored to be appointed as Rhode Island's Historian Laureate,' Stokes wrote in a post on LinkedIn. 'Historical interpretation has long served as a beacon of guidance, particularly during times of social, economic, and cultural transformation. My mission is to illuminate Rhode Island and America's past in a way that inspires us all, nurturing a collective sense of identity and purpose.' Stokes was chosen from a field of eight candidates who applied for the position after Patrick Conley, the first and only person to have been historian laureate, chose not to seek reappointment earlier this year. Other applicants included Steve Frias, a former Rhode Island Republican National Committeeman and member of the RI250 Commission; Allison Horrocks, a park ranger at the Blackstone River Valley National Historical Park in Pawtucket who is also a podcast host and author; David Kohnen and associate professor at the. U.S. Naval War College in Newport; Scott Molloy, a former professor of labor and industrial relations at the University of Rhode Island; Michael Simpson, an adjunct professor at Johnson & Wales University who runs Hidden History Tours of Rhode Island as well as the On This Day in Rhode Island History account on X; Maureen Taylor, a genealogist and nationally-renowened photo detective; and Catherine Zipf, executive director of the Bristol Historical and Preservation Society. The Secretary of State's announcement highlighted Stokes' 'passion for historical research' drawn from his African, Jewish, and Caribbean family roots. Stokes has appeared on C-SPAN, Fox's Legends & Lies, and TED Talks. He serves as a consulting historian for the Rhode Island Black Heritage Society, was former state advisor for the National Trust for Historic Preservation. He also serves on the RI250 Commission. Stokes was the lead researcher and author of the 2024 publication 'A Matter of Truth,' which examined and documented the role of the state and city of Providence in supporting a 'separate and unequal' existence for people of color. Stokes holds a master's degree in social policy administration from the University of Chicago. Last May, he was named the as new associate director of the Rhode Island Department of Administration's Division of Equity, Diversity and Inclusion. 'Ensuring that Rhode Islanders learn about and continue to pass on our state's history is one of my top priorities as Secretary of State,' Amore, a former history teacher, said in a statement. 'I am confident that Keith's rich background and breadth of experience in historical research, storytelling, and education will continue to be an incredible asset to our state in this role.' From 2010 to 2012, Stokes served as the head of the Rhode Island Economic Development Corporation – now Rhode Island Commerce Corporation. His tenure there occurred during the ill-fated 38 Studios deal that left the state on the hook for a $78 million loan guarantee after the company folded two years after relocating to the state. Stokes also served 15 years as executive director of the Newport County Chamber of Commerce. Stokes was named director of economic development for the city of Providence in October 2021 and served for over a year until Mayor Brett Smiley took office. SUBSCRIBE: GET THE MORNING HEADLINES DELIVERED TO YOUR INBOX
Japan Times
15-04-2025
- Politics
- Japan Times
China's new bridge-forming barges offer new options for Taiwan invasion
If anyone was wondering what Chinese troops and armored vehicles disembarking onto Taiwan's shores could potentially look like, then footage of drills in China's southern Guangdong province showing barges equipped with interconnected landing bridges might provide a clue. Posted briefly last month on the Chinese microblogging site Weibo, the images show how three specially designed Shuiqiao-class barges can be linked up one behind the other to form a long, relocatable pier that extends from deeper waters nearly a kilometer out at sea onto a beach. The trials, held near the city of Zhanjiang, suggest Beijing is not only working on new tools to ramp up its amphibious sealift capacity, but also devising ways to overcome the limited number of suitable locations for amphibious landing operations in Taiwan, as the barges could enable Chinese troops to disembark at a wider range of locations across the self-ruled island. 'This relocatable pier system can deliver large volumes of (personnel), equipment and materiel into unimproved amphibious landing areas, damaged or blocked ports, or possibly across seawalls or other obstacles onto coastal roads,' according to a report published by the U.S. Naval War College's China Maritime Studies Institute. With a total of five areas around the barge where roll-on, roll-off ships could dock alongside, the relocatable pier could potentially transfer hundreds of vehicles ashore per hour, wrote the authors of the report, J. Michael Dahm and Thomas Shugart. The barges also feature retractable legs that can be lowered onto the seafloor to lift the entire vessel out of the water. The legs function like massive stilts forming a raised, stable platform that is less subject to the influence of currents or waves. China regards Taiwan as a breakaway province and has vowed to unite it with the mainland, either by negotiations or through force. Taiwan's military planners have long considered the island's geographic characteristics — including the rugged terrain that restricts the number of beaches suitable for amphibious landings to fewer than 20 — as key elements of their defense strategy. But Beijing's latest engineering feat could prompt them to partially reevaluate their plans, especially as the newly developed vessels appear meant for the China's People's Liberation Army (PLA) Navy to use. 'Based on their function, paint scheme and lack of automatic identification system (AIS) transmissions, the barges are very likely PLA Navy auxiliaries and not civilian vessels,' wrote Dahm and Shugart. Images of the first three landing barges emerged in January, but Beijing appears keen on expanding this capability as soon as possible, with the authors of the report saying that a second, identical set of three is already under construction in southern China. This, the experts argue, suggests the PLA may have significantly advanced its timetable to field sufficient capabilities for a large-scale cross-strait operation against Taiwan. 'This newest logistics capability is further evidence of the PLA's efforts to meet Chairman Xi Jinping's reported mandate to have military capabilities necessary to conduct a large-scale invasion of Taiwan by 2027,' they wrote. Some top U.S. military commanders have repeatedly referred to that year as Xi's "preferred timeline' for annexation, pointing to a secretive directive from Xi calling on the PLA to be ready. It's important to note, however, that no public evidence has emerged that Beijing is planning to invade Taiwan by 2027. Just how prepared the PLA will be two years from now will also depend on the combined — and growing — deterrence and defense capabilities of Taiwan, the United States and like-minded countries such as Japan, which could make it difficult for the PLA to launch an invasion, let alone conduct a successful one. Notwithstanding the debate about Beijing's sense of urgency, experts stressed that while the new barges, also known as landing platform utility (LPU) vessels, do expand China's invasion toolkit, they are not the type of assets the PLA would use to initiate an amphibious assault, particularly in highly restricted and potentially contested areas. 'These landing barges are probably too vulnerable to spearhead an amphibious invasion of Taiwan,' Shugart, a former U.S. Navy submarine commander now with the Center for a New American Security think tank, told The Japan Times. The vessels wouldn't just be vulnerable to attacks from land, air and sea, but also to underwater mines in the 'surf zone,' or the shallower parts of the water close to shore, which would have to be cleared before any landing. 'If a Shuiqiao barge were damaged or destroyed, for example, that might neutralize the landing capability of the entire three-barge composite pier system,' Shugart added. The part to be played by these vessels would come at a later stage, Shugart and his co-author noted, namely after PLA amphibious armored brigades or airborne troops established a secure location for an 'amphibious landing base.' The barges would then come in to enable the transport of other forces, such as heavy combined arms brigades. 'Landing forces are always vulnerable to shore defenses,' said John Bradford, a naval expert and executive director of the Yokosuka Council on Asia Pacific Studies, adding that the key to an invasion is to achieve the right mix of speed and mass. 'In wargames, Chinese forces are consistently able to establish a beachhead with amphibious and airborne forces, but they are sometimes unable to amass enough forces to fight their way beyond the beach,' he said. 'These systems can change that equation.' More details are expected to emerge in the coming months and years as the PLA puts the vessels into service and uses them in increasingly complex exercises. One thing is already clear, though: Their development, experts say, alongside China's growing integration of military, paramilitary and civilian resources, reflects the PLA's rapidly growing capabilities to conduct a large-scale, cross-strait operation sooner rather than later.
Yahoo
08-04-2025
- Politics
- Yahoo
Pentagon fires NATO Military Committee representative, who previously led U.S. Naval War College
Then Rear Adm. Shoshana Chatfield speaks during a change of command ceremony held at the conclusion of her service as president of the U.S. Naval War College on June 23, 2023. Rear Adm. Peter Garvin succeeded her to become the 58th president. (U.S. Navy Photo by Kristopher Burris/Released) U.S. Navy Vice Adm. Shoshana Chatfield, the U.S. representative to NATO's Military Committee, was fired over the weekend, the Associated Press reported Monday. Chatfield served as president of the U.S. Naval War College in Newport, Rhode Island, from 2019 to 2023 and was the first woman to lead the college. Her promotion from rear admiral to vice admiral and assignment to NATO in Brussels, Belgium, had been held up for most of 2023 by Alabama's Republican U.S. in protest of the Pentagon's abortion policy. The Pentagon did not confirm that Chatfield had been relieved of her duties. Her firing was first reported by Reuters, which confirmed that allies had been notified that Chatfield had been removed from her job. Chatfield is the third top female officer to be fired since President Donald Trump took office amid a push to erase DEI programs and online content. Trump fired Coast Guard Commandant Adm. Linda Fagan the day after he was sworn in. In February, Department of Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth announced he was firing the chief of naval operations, Adm. Lisa Franchetti. 'I want to see members of this team offer each other respect for differences, for diversity, for the dialogue from which ideas and collaboration emerge,' Chatfield told staff and faculty when she arrived at the college in August 2019. 'I want to see academic excellence. I want to see integrity in academics and in research.' In a post on X, Sen. Mark Warner, a Democrat from Virginia, said he was 'deeply disturbed' by the firing of Chatfield, who is a combat veteran and helicopter pilot. 'Trump's relentless attacks on our alliances and his careless dismissal of decorated military officials make us less safe and weaken our position across the world,' Warner said. The War College has removed a 'small amount' of online content after conducting a review to comply with the Digital Content Refresh memorandum sent out by Assistant to the Secretary of Defense for Public Affairs Sean Parnell, said Lt. Cmdr. Pete Pagano, the college's public affairs officer. 'Examples include social media posts about DoD monthly observances and videos of lectures focused on immutable characteristics such as race, ethnicity or sex,' Pagano said in an email. 'None of the affected content was part of or related to our core curriculum.' SUBSCRIBE: GET THE MORNING HEADLINES DELIVERED TO YOUR INBOX
