China’s first aircraft carrier forms ‘evolving pattern’ of voyages in disputed Asian seas

NEW TAIPEI CITY, Taiwan— China’s first aircraft carrier, heavily watched around East Asia as an emblem of Beijing’s growing naval power , had made at least six faraway deployments since its completion 14 years ago. It made another in October. So frequent are the Chinese aircraft carrier CNS Liaoning’s publicly visible voyages that military analysts presume that the People’s Liberation Army Navy has fixed a routine that will let the relatively aged carrier help train and equip the fleet’s two more modern ones. Still, the carrier group’s passages not far from Taiwan , Japan and the Philippines – places that have political or maritime sovereignty disputes with China – have raised alerts . “The current voyage by the Liaoning appears to be part of an established evolving pattern of far-seas training deployments,” said Carl Thayer, an Asia specialist and emeritus professor at the University of New South Wales in Australia. “The Liaoning demonstrates China’s naval military capability and political influence through its constant presence in China’s near and far seas,” he said. The aircraft carrier led a naval task group to the western Pacific Ocean on Oct. 14 for training, the Chinese People’s Liberation Army Navy said via China’s official Xinhua News Agency. Citing the navy, Xinhua called the expedition a “drill” and part of an annual routine training plan aimed at “testing and improving combat readiness.” China’s state-controlled Global Times news outlet called the Liaoning’s Octob…