China’s Liaoning carrier and USS Theodore Roosevelt may be in Philippine Sea at same time

China’s Liaoning aircraft carrier strike group sailed beyond the first island chain last week to reach the southernmost waters of the Philippines, suggesting an intent to position itself closer to ongoing US-Japan joint exercises.

Philippine news channel BNC reported that the carrier group reached about 25 nautical miles (46km) east-southeast of Balut Island, the southernmost point of the Philippines, before sailing northeast on Friday.

That positioned the warships past the first island chain, a US-led strategic arc of maritime chokepoints running from Japan through Taiwan to the Philippines.

The four-strong Liaoning strike group includes the Type 055 large guided-missile destroyers Wuxi and Anshan, and the Type 052D guided-missile destroyer Huainan.

If the carrier group holds its northeastward course, it could eventually enter the Philippine Sea, where American and Japanese forces are conducting their biennial Keen Sword exercise.

The US Navy’s 7th fleet said in a social media post on Thursday that the Nimitz-class aircraft carrier USS Theodore Roosevelt was operating in the Philippine Sea alongside allied warships from Japan, Australia, Canada and France as part of a multilateral force taking part in the Keen Sword drills.

This year’s exercise runs from October 19 to 29, taking place at sites across Japan and its surrounding waters.

BNC’s report on Saturday said the strike group transited the Basilan Strait on Thursday after being spotted off the southwestern coast of the Philippines, where it was shadowed by Philippine Navy vessels.

The Japanese defence ministry reported that the warships first sailed southeast through the Miyako Strait to enter the Pacific on October 14 and turned towards the South China Sea the following day before making their way to the southern Philippines.

The route suggests the group is sailing anticlockwise around the Philippines – from its northern to its western coast – reversing the course taken during drills in October 2024.

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China reveals radio communications heard before mid-air stand-off with Japanese fighters

Japan’s defence ministry noted that while the Liaoning was operating in waters between Okinawa and Miyako Island earlier this month, Chinese aerial surveillance assets – including a Y-9 electronic reconnaissance aircraft and a WZ-7 high-altitude drone – were also detected in the area. It remains unclear whether they accompanied the carrier group south.

In a report on Saturday, China’s state broadcaster CCTV said that Japanese ships and aircraft had repeatedly shadowed the carrier group at close range during its far-sea training in June, engaging in what Beijing described as harassment and provocation.

The Type 054B frigate Luohe, deployed on the group’s outer perimeter, warned off Japanese vessels from a distance, while carrier-borne J-15 fighter jets from the Liaoning intercepted and saw off Japanese P-3C maritime patrol aircraft, the report said.