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Beijing claims to mix the entire South China Sea region for historical reasons. However, several countries which are members of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) also have claims in similar areas that overlap.
Two American aircraft carriers and combat groups that maneuvered together were USS Nimitz and USS Ronald Reagan.(Read: Two US Aircraft Carriers Maneuver in the Philippine Sea, Conflict Alert with China)
“USS Nimitz and USS Ronald Reagan Carrier Strike Groups have begun training to increase the United States’ responsive, flexible and lasting commitment to mutual defense agreements with allies and partners in the Indo-Pacific,” the US Navy said in a statement. Japan Times, Monday (6/29/2020).
The joint war group combat training exercises also took place a week after USS Nimitz and another aircraft carrier, USS Theodore Roosevelt, conducted joint operations in the same area.
It is rare to see three US aircraft carriers operating at the same time in the Western Pacific and it is even more unusual for three aircraft carriers to hold joint exercises separately in a fast time frame.
“We are aggressively seeking every opportunity to advance and strengthen our abilities and abilities in conducting war operations throughout the domain,” said Carrier Strike Group 5 commander, Rear Admiral George Wikoff. (Read: US Deploys 3 Aircraft Carrier to Indo-Pacific, Warning for China)
“The US Navy continues to have a mission that is ready and deployed globally. The operation of the two aircraft carriers demonstrates our commitment to regional allies, our ability to rapidly combat forces in the Indo-Pacific, and our readiness to face all those who oppose international norms which supports regional stability, “he said.
The focus of Wikoff’s statement on regional allies will be to increase the pressure on China, which claims many regions of the South China Sea, although the Philippines, Vietnam, Malaysia, Taiwan and Brunei have overlapping claims in waters where China, the US, Japan and some ASEAN countries operate regularly.
On Saturday, ASEAN said in a statement issued by Vietnam on behalf of the 10 bloc countries that the 1982 UN sea treaty should be the basis of sovereign rights and rights in disputed waterways. (Read: Having Anti-Ship Missiles, China Is Not Afraid of 3 US Aircraft Carriers)
“We reiterate that UNCLOS 1982 is the basis for determining maritime rights, sovereign rights, jurisdiction and legitimate interests in maritime zones,” the ASEAN statement said, referring to the UN Convention on the Law of the Sea, which defines the rights of nations to the world’s oceans and limits zones an exclusive economy where coastal states have special rights to catch fish and exploit energy sources.
The eastern entry point of the South China Sea and the surrounding waters have been reported to have been tinged with busy military activity in recent days, including – according to a Chinese think tank – several surveillance missions by US spy planes.
The South China Sea Strategic Situation Probing Initiative, a think tank under Peking University in Beijing, said it had recorded US spy planes in the Bashi Strait and around the South China Sea. (Also read: Three US planes hunt for Chinese submarines in the South China Sea)
Drew Thompson, a researcher at the National University of Singapore, wrote on Twitter in response that among the US planes was a pair of US Navy Orion P-8 aircraft. “(Two planes) have taken over positions on target underwater interests that interested, it’s likely that the Navy (China) People’s Liberation Army (PLA) submarine is moving through the Bashi Strait, “he wrote.
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