China has deployed two aircraft carriers deep into the Pacific Ocean for the first time in an action regional officials and China analysts say highlights Beijing’s expansionist military goals.
The carriers, the Liaoning and Shandong, were spotted in the western Pacific and one of the warships, the Liaoning, sailed past the U.S. island of Guam — 2,800 miles from the Chinese coast.
Previous Chinese carrier deployments to the western Pacific kept their distance from Guam, a major U.S. military hub in the Pacific.
Chinese media called the dual carrier operation an unprecedented show of force past what is called the second island chain — a string of north-to-south islands located far from Chinese coast.
The carriers are accompanied by guided-missile destroyers and frigates.
The People’s Liberation Army Navy said Tuesday that the two carrier groups were conducting exercises to test “far sea defenses and joint operational capabilities.”
PLAN Capt. Wang Xuemeng said in a statement the exercises are routine and aimed at bolstering military capabilities.
Despite one carrier sailing past Guam, Capt. Wang said the carrier operations were not targeted against any specific country.
On Wednesday, Taiwan Defense Minister Wellington Koo said the simultaneous carrier operations showed China’s plans for projecting power.
“Crossing from the first island chain into the second island chain sends a definite political message, and their expansionist nature can be seen,” Mr. Koo told reporters in Taipei.
In Japan, the Defense Ministry said the two carriers operated together, with the Shandong conducting aircraft takeoff and landing actions near the second island chain that connects Japan’s Ogasawara Islands and Guam.
The Shandong was located about 311 miles southwest of Iwo Jima and north of Okinotori, the ministry said, while the Liaoning conducted operations 186 miles southwest of Japan’s Minamitori Island on Saturday and Sunday. It was the first instance of a Chinese carrier crossing the second island chain, the ministry said.
Japan’s Chief Cabinet Secretary Yoshimasa Hayashi told reporters on Monday that Tokyo sent “an appropriate message” to China about the carriers. He did not elaborate.
A U.S. defense official said the PLAN conducted its first dual carrier operations in October with both the Liaoning and Shandong.
“It’s far from dual carrier operations as we know them, but they are training together,” the official said, describing the training exercises as important steps toward the use of carriers for power projection.
China views the second island chain as the far edge of a defense line where U.S. warships would be engaged in the event of a future conflict over Taiwan.
The U.S. Navy currently has two aircraft carrier strike groups in the region, the USS George Washington, near Japan, and the USS Nimitz, near the South China Sea.
Years ago, a Chinese general suggested to a U.S. military commander that the United States pull back all its forces to Hawaii and divide up the Pacific into two spheres — a Chinese zone west of Hawaii and a U.S. zone east of the islands.
The U.S. rejected the suggestion. Military commanders continue to declare the western Pacific to be international waters.
Acting Chief of Naval Operations Adm. James W. Kilby told a Senate hearing on Tuesday that in the face of a growing Chinese threat to the region “we fly, sail and operate in accordance with international law, conduct freedom of navigation operations, and build interoperability with key allies and partners to maintain a free, open and secure Indo-Pacific.”
The two Chinese carriers were built as modified Soviet-era Kuznetsov-design warships that use ski-jumps to launch aircraft.
China’s first domestic carrier, the Fujian, is undergoing sea trials before deployment.
Chinese trolls exploit L.A. riots
Chinese social media trolls are promoting the violent anti-government protests in Los Angeles online, a review of several pro-Beijing social media accounts on X reveals.
On Monday, the account Belt & Road (@BRI_news) that reports on China’s developing nation programs stated in a post: “It’s time for China to supply nuclear warheads to Mexico for use against Washington, DC!”
The account later said, “It’s times like this when Californians look to China for a supply of tactical nuclear warheads.”
Pro-China activist ShanghaiPanda (@thinking_panda) posted an AI-generated image of a giant panda protecting children from armed U.S. troops underneath the iconic Hollywood sign. “Standing with Californians! Resisting Trump’s tyranny!” the troll stated.
ShanghaiPanda, which had 153,300 followers, also commented on a picture of the aftermath of the attempted assassination of a right-wing Columbian senator, stating: “Columbia today, USA tomorrow.”
A third pro-China account of K.L. (@kinglinzhuhui), with 21,600 followers, posted a photo of a Mexican flag-waving protester in Los Angeles along with the phrase in Chinese “Liberate California, revolution now.”
Several of the social media posters sought to compare the Los Angeles rioters to pro-democracy protesters in Hong Kong in 2019 who were opposing communist rule.
The posts were monitored by Charles R. Smith, a former journalist and security expert who works with an informal group, known as Quad A-10, that tracks Chinese propaganda online.
Social media is a key tool in China’s use of cognitive warfare — nonkinetic methods of advancing strategic objectives. China’s United Front Work Department uses nongovernment agents on social media to promote favored Beijing political narratives.
“In the arena of cognitive warfare, China is strategically leveraging social media to amplify its global influence and challenge Western narratives,” said a report by the CCP Biothreats Initiative, a think tank of former military and intelligence experts.
Hegseth: Pentagon conducting ’exhaustive review’ in purge of DEI
Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth outlined efforts to eliminate all diversity, equity and inclusion programs imposed by the Biden administration from the Pentagon and the military on Tuesday.
A new task force ordered by President Trump was set up to institute policies based on merit and that are “colorblind” within all the military services, Mr. Hegseth stated in prepared testimony to the House Appropriations defense subcommittee.
“I have tasked it to abolish the DEI bureaucracy across all of our services. That begins with ending any DEI offices and all of their vestiges, including sub-offices and initiatives established to promote a race-based preferences system,” he said.
DEI programs devastated morale within the military during the Biden administration and “subverted meritocracy, perpetuated unconstitutional discrimination and promoted divisive concepts and radical gender ideology,” he said.
Under the new policy, sex, race and ethnicity will not be used in promotions and racial and gender quotas are being eliminated.
Critical race theory, a Marxist derivative, DEI and gender ideology will not be taught at service academies or schools for dependents.
Defense and military contractors, boards, councils and working groups also are being ordered to halt any operations related to what Mr. Hegseth called “these divisive ideologies.”
“We are removing any content from the [Defense Department] that does not support our core mission of war fighting,” he said. “We are undertaking an exhaustive internal review to discover all programs that fall under the remit of President Trump’s order.”
The new policies will seek to ensure that the military is protecting the Constitution and American history and “not subverting them,” he said.
“Providing service members an equal opportunity to excel will help us remain the world’s strongest and most lethal fighting force,” Mr. Hegseth stated.
Golden Dome missile defense can counter nuclear pulse danger, EMP expert says
The Trump administration plan to build a nationwide shield against enemy missiles will also provide protection against an electronics-killing electro-magnetic pulse, or EMP, attack, according to a specialist on the threat.
William R. Forstchen, a military historian, said a strategic defense system using space-based weapons is needed to protect the nation.
Unlike Israel’s tactical defense system, called Iron Dome, that hits missiles shortly before impact, Mr. Forstchen said the Golden Dome would neutralize ballistic missiles in space at greater distances before they near U.S. territory. “It’s a no-brainer to me. We need a strategic defense system,” he said in a statement.
On the EMP threat, America is vulnerable to a cataclysmic space-based nuclear strike that could wipe out power and set off a cascade of deadly events.
China, Russia and North Korea have the capability of setting off a nuclear bomb 200 miles above Earth and disrupting electronics over wide areas. The U.S. electric grid is vulnerable to such an attack.
“I believe the threat of America being hit by an EMP weapon is the single greatest danger to our survival,” Mr. Forstchen said. “Electricity is the fundamental building block of our society. Everything is predicated on electrification.”
• Contact Bill Gertz on X @BillGertz.
• Bill Gertz can be reached at bgertz@washingtontimes.com.