US Navy Firepower Gathers in Western Pacific

Three U.S. Navy supercarriers are operating in the Western Pacific this week amid mounting tensions between China and Taiwan, as well as U.S. treaty allies Japan and the Philippines.

The concentration of so many of the ships, uncommon during peacetime, was prompted by joint exercises to boost cooperative operations between American and Japanese forces.

U.S. Naval Institute News’ fleet tracker on Monday showed two Nimitz-class supercarriers, the USS Theodore Roosevelt and USS Carl Vinson, to be in waters east of Taiwan and northeast of the Philippines.

Forward-deployed amphibious assault ship the USS America, which can function as a light aircraft carrier, was also shown to be in the area.

Meanwhile, forward-deployed Nimitz-class carrier the USS Ronald Reagan, was shown to be at its home port of Yokosuka, Japan, bringing the total number of U.S. flattops to four.

As of Wednesday, the USS Carl Vinson and USS Theodore Roosevelt were in international waters southeast of the Miyako Strait and west of Taiwan, according to ship tracking data reported by Chinese think tank South China Sea Probing Initiative.

Also that day, the Japan Maritime Self-Defense Force (JMSDF) posted on social media that its Hyuga-class helicopter carrier the JS Ise was joining a bilateral exercise with both supercarriers.

“The exercise with the two largest aircraft carriers is a precious opportunity to improve tactical capabilities and interoperability,” the post said, adding the drill began Monday and would run through Friday.

The JMSDF said the last time it had last conducted drills with multiple U.S. carriers was in November.

The U.S. Navy’s Pacific Fleet did not respond to Newsweek‘s written request for comment by publication time.

The exercise came as territorial disputes in the region continue to escalate.

Japanese media reported Monday that China was strategically deploying four warships on a permanent basis in waters around Taiwan. China claims the self-ruled island as its territory, though the Chinese Communist Party government in Beijing has never governed there.

China’s coast guard said Thursday that on Sunday it had chased off four Philippine nationals “who intruded into China’s Huangyan Island for illegal activities,” using the Chinese name for the South China Sea feature known in the Philippines as Scarborough Shoal.

The atoll has long been traditional fishing grounds for the Philippines as well as Chinese and Vietnamese fishermen. It lies within the Philippines’ internationally recognized exclusive economic zone, though China has exercised de-facto control over it since 2012.

Saturday, the Chinese coast guard said it had “warned off” Japanese fishing and patrol boats that had entered “China’s territorial waters” around the Senkaku Islands, which Japan controls and the U.S. says is covered under the countries’ shared mutual defense treaty.

Last week, the USS John Finn destroyer sailed through the Taiwan Strait in the U.S. Navy’s first transit of the 100-mile-wide waterway this year. A spokesperson for China’s People’s Liberation Army criticized the U.S. for “provocative acts” that have “maliciously undermined regional peace and stability.”