The Chinese aircraft carrier Shandong has made two rare transits north of the Philippines within the span of a week, in what analysts called a “show of force” as US and Philippine forces held joint drills in the area.
They said the Shandong’s passage through the Luzon Strait – a key naval choke point located between Taiwan and the Philippines – underscored Beijing’s resolve to break through the first island chain in the face of US containment efforts, notably through the deployment of anti-ship missiles during the joint exercise.
The Shandong, accompanied by six destroyers and frigates, as well as two support vessels, was first detected by the Philippine Navy last Tuesday roughly 185km (115 miles) northwest of Burgos on the northwestern tip of Luzon, the Philippines’ biggest island.
The vessels were detected just a day after Manila and Washington began their annual Balikatan exercise, a three-week joint drill featuring “full-scale battle scenarios”.
The exercises were conducted within Philippine waters, stretching from around Subic Bay to northern Luzon – close to where the Shandong was spotted.
On Wednesday, the Japanese defence ministry reported spotting the Shandong sailing in the Philippine Sea, about 789km south of Japan’s Miyako Island. Aircraft on board the carrier conducted roughly 130 take-off and landing drills between Wednesday and Friday, according to the ministry.
