Two U.S. Navy Carriers Do Combat Drills In South China Sea

The Biden administration carried out its third freedom of navigation operation (FONOP) in Asian waters since it came into power three weeks ago with two U.S. Navy aircraft carriers on Tuesday holding a show of force combat drill in the South China Sea.

The dual carrier operation was conducted by the nuclear-powered aircraft carriers USS Theodore Roosevelt (CVN-71) and its Carrier Strike Group 9 (CSG 9) and the USS Nimitz (CVN-68) with its CSG 11. Altogether, more than 10 Navy warships were involved in the maneuvers.

The Navy said both CSGs carried out operations and exercises to support a free and open Indo-Pacific. It said it “conducted a multitude of exercises aimed at increasing interoperability between assets as well as command and control capabilities."

The carriers led their individual CSGs consisting of escorting destroyers, cruisers, submarines and supply ships.

“We are committed to ensuring the lawful use of the sea that all nations enjoy under international law,” said Rear Admiral James Kirk, commander of the Nimitz Carrier Strike Group.

It was the second two-carrier combat exercise in the South China Sea since the USS Nimitz (CVN-68) and the USS Ronald Reagan (CVN-76) did so in July 2020.

Tuesday's drill was the third FONOP in Asia since the Biden administration took office on January 20. It was also the most powerful given two aircraft carriers were involved.

The operation comes in the wake of tough statements by Biden, who said China will be taken to task for its excessive geopolitical ambitions. On Monday, Biden said his administration is ready for “extreme competition” against China but on its own terms. He told Americans and the world his administration intends to compete hard against China.

USS Nimitz

He also said Chinese leader Xi Jinping "doesn't have a democratic ‘small D’ bone in his body.” Despite these strong words, Biden also opened the door to talks with China.

“The question is, I’ve said to him all along, that we need not have a conflict,” he pointed out.

On the same day Biden made these remarks, the Arleigh Burke-class guided missile destroyer USS John S. McCain (DDG-56) again stoked Chinese anger, this time by conducting a FONOP near the Chinese-controlled Paracel Islands in the South China Sea.

The Southern Theatre Command of the People’s Liberation Army Navy said McCain entered into what it claimed are the territorial waters of the Paracels without permission, “seriously infringing upon China’s sovereignty and security."

It was the Navy's first such operation in the South China Sea this year but the second in Asia. On February 4, McCain accomplished the Biden administration's first FONOP in Asia when it transited the Taiwan Strait separating mainland China from Taiwan in a voyage that sparked Chinese anger. (10 Feb. 2021)

USS John S. McCain Accomplishes 1st U.S. Navy Taiwan Strait Transit Of Biden Administration

The U.S. Navy Arleigh Burke-class guided missile destroyer USS John S. McCain (DDG-56) has again transited the Taiwan Strait in the first freedom of navigation operation (FONOP) under the Biden administration.

Its routine passage Thursday sends a clear signal to China the Biden administration won’t back-off from confronting China to ensure freedom of navigation on the high seas. It was the 14th transit of the Taiwan Strait since 2020 by a Navy warship, said the United States Seventh Fleet based in Hawaii.

The navy thumbed its nose at China 13 times in 2020, the most number since 12 transits in 2016, the final year of former President Barack Obama's administration.

"The ship's transit through the Taiwan Strait demonstrates the US commitment to a free and open Indo-Pacific," said Lt. Joe Keiley, a spokesperson for the Seventh Fleet.

"The United States military will continue to fly, sail and operate anywhere international law allows."

Of the 14 transits since 2020, two were conducted by McCain. On New Year's Eve, this destroyer and the USS Curtis Wilbur (DDG-54) both completed a rare two warship passage of the Taiwan Strait separating Taiwan from mainland China.

USS John S. McCain

China's Ministry of Defense said the unopposed transit of the strait indicates the "incumbent U.S. administration's desperate destructive acts." It was the last FONOP in Asia by the Trump administration.

McCain has been the most active in challenging illegal maritime claims by China and Russia. A warship of Destroyer Squadron 15 of the Seventh Fleet based in Yokosuka, Japan, McCain conducted a FONOP in international waters off Peter the Great Bay in the Sea of Japan in November 2020 to the fury of the Russian Navy.

On December 22, McCain performed a FONOP in the South China Sea near the Spratly Islands, which Taiwan, China, and Vietnam claim to own. On December 24, she appeared off Vietnam for a FONOP in the vicinity of the Con Dao Islands in the South China Sea in an unusual warning to Vietnam.

In August 2017, McCain sailed to within 11 km of Mischief Reef in the Spratly Islands, a Philippine island seized by China in the South China Sea, in another FONOP. China expressed its "strong dissatisfaction" to the McCain's incursion. (5 Feb. 2021)