(CNN) — China’s lone aircraft carrier is prowling the Pacific as the country seeks to assert its military might and build up its naval warfare capabilities.
The Liaoning carrier’s J-15 fighter jets practiced air confrontations and air refueling in the Yellow Sea late last week before the ship and its flotilla of escorting frigates and destroyers headed into the open Pacific beyond Taiwan and Okinawa.
On Monday it headed to the South China Sea — the site of regional tensions caused by China building fortifications on disputed islands.
It’s a move that hasn’t gone unnoticed by China’s Asian neighbors.
Taiwan sounded a note of alarm, with its defense minister emphasizing the need for vigilance.
“The threat of our enemy is growing day by day. We should always be maintaining our combat alertness,” said Taiwan Defense Minister Feng Shih-Kuan.
Japan’s Defense Ministry, meanwhile, said it’s the first time it could confirm the Liaoning, which China bought from Ukraine in 1998, then rebuilt and commissioned in 2012 as a training vessel, had gone into the open Pacific.
“We are taking notice of this event, which indicates China is expanding its ability to engage in maritime warfare,” Japanese Chief Cabinet Secretary Yoshihide Suga said.
And it looks like that’s exactly the point China’s trying to make clear.
A warning for Eastern Pacific
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