China’s aircraft carrier Liaoning and its accompanying warships are sailing through waters south of the Philippines, potentially setting up an overlap with US and allied naval forces conducting the Keen Sword military exercise in the Philippine Sea.
The Chinese carrier group moved beyond the first island chain during a deployment that began on October 14, while the US Navy’s USS Theodore Roosevelt was operating in the region alongside Japanese, Australian, Canadian and French warships.
The timing brings two separate military activities into the same strategically important stretch of the western Pacific, although there is no confirmation that the Chinese formation is deliberately heading toward the exercise or that the two carrier groups will come into direct contact. Keen Sword runs from October 19 to 29, with activities taking place across Japan and surrounding waters.
Liaoning’s route takes it around the Philippines
The four-ship Chinese formation includes the Liaoning and three guided-missile destroyers: the Type 055 vessels Wuxi and Anshan, and the Type 052D destroyer Huainan. Philippine naval vessels reportedly shadowed the group as it sailed near the country’s southwestern coast.
Japan’s defense ministry reported that the Chinese warships passed through the Miyako Strait on October 14 to enter the Pacific, then turned toward the South China Sea the following day before heading toward the southern Philippines.
The route suggests the group is moving anticlockwise around the Philippine archipelago, reversing the course it took during exercises in October 2024, the South China Morning Post reported. The deployment is Liaoning’s second round of drills in the western Pacific this year. The carrier group is expected to remain deployed for several weeks, overlapping with the Keen Sword drill
Japanese authorities also detected Chinese aerial surveillance assets operating near the carrier earlier in the month, including a Y-9 electronic reconnaissance aircraft and a WZ-7 high-altitude unmanned aircraft. However, it remains unclear whether either aircraft continued south with the carrier group.
Two carrier operations in a strategically important region
The USS Theodore Roosevelt, a Nimitz-class aircraft carrier, was operating in the Philippine Sea with allied warships as part of Keen Sword, according to the US Navy’s 7th Fleet.
The first island chain, which stretches from Japan through Taiwan to the Philippines, is a central geographic feature in US and Chinese military planning. Chinese forces operating beyond it can train in the wider Pacific, while US and allied forces use regional exercises to practice coordination across maritime and air operations.
A potential overlap between the Liaoning group and the multinational force would place the two naval activities in the same broad operating area. But it would not, by itself, indicate a confrontation or establish that Beijing intends to disrupt the exercise.
Tensions have also surfaced during earlier carrier deployments. In a report aired by Chinese state broadcaster CCTV, Beijing said Japanese ships and aircraft repeatedly shadowed the Liaoning group during far-sea training in June. The report said the Type 054B frigate Luohe warned off Japanese vessels, while J-15 fighters operating from the carrier intercepted Japanese P-3C maritime patrol aircraft.