Chinese Warships Have Entered the South China Sea

Amid renewed tension led by China's sole aircraft carrier 'Liaoning' a group of Chinese warships have entered the top half of the South China Sea on Monday after passing south of Taiwan.

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This is a build up to already tense situation in South China Sea , the move is seen as a continuation of tension over self ruled Taiwan, which Beijing claims as it's own. Following US President-elect Donald Trump's telephonic call with Taiwan's president China is increasingly making it's presence felt in South Chinese Sea.

The carrier group which comprises of five more vessels and was being led by 'Liaoning' reportedly passed 90 nautical miles south of Taiwan's southernmost point via the Bashi Channel, between Taiwan and the Philippines earlier in the day.

Ministry spokesman Chen Chung-chi said "Staying vigilant and flexible has always been the normal method of maintaining airspace security," however he declined to say whether Taiwan fighter jets were scrambled or if submarines had been deployed. Chen finally said the ministry was continuing to "monitor and grasp the situation".

Accoring to a senior Taiwan opposition Nationalist lawmaker Johny Chiang the Liaoning exercise was China's signal to the United States that it has broken through the "first island chain", an area that includes Japan's Ryukyu Islands and Taiwan.

Japan's top government spokesman said on Monday the voyage showed China's expanding military capability and Japan was closely monitoring it. On Sunday it had spotted six Chinese naval vessels including the Liaoning travelling through the passage between Miyako and Okinawa and into the Pacific.

This month long range drills were conducted by Chinese air force above the East and South China Seas that rattled Japan and Taiwan. China however has termed these exercises as routine exercise.

More About Liaoning
Liaoning is the first aircraft carrier commissioned into the People's Liberation Army Navy Surface Force. It is classified as a training ship, intended to allow the Navy to practice with carrier usage. After being completely rebuilt and undergoing sea trials, the ship was commissioned into the People's Liberation Army Navy (PLAN) as Liaoning with the class name Type 001 on September 25, 2012. In November 2016, the political commissar of the Liaoning, Senior Captain Li Dongyou, stated that the Liaoning was combat ready.

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In August 2014, the Chinese-language Shanghai Morning Post listed that Liaoning would carry 36 aircraft: 24 Shenyang J-15 fighters, six Changhe Z-18F anti-submarine warfare (ASW) helicopters, four Changhe Z-18J airborne early warning helicopters and two Harbin Z-9C rescue helicopters. The Chinese carrier aircraft inventory is similar to a balanced combat and support aircraft approach intended for Soviet aircraft carriers, which supported nuclear submarines, large surface combatants, and land-based strike bombers performing anti-access roles. The air wing lacks long-range radar and anti-submarine fixed-wing aircraft, needing support from shore-based aircraft such as Tupolev Tu-154 ASW and Shaanxi Y-8 AWACS aircraft.

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The Tupolev Tu-154: is a three-engine medium-range narrow-body airliner designed in the mid-1960s and manufactured by Tupolev. A workhorse of Soviet and (subsequently) Russian airlines for several decades, it carried half of all passengers flown by Aeroflot and its subsidiaries (137.5 million/year or 243.8 billion passenger km in 1990), remaining the standard domestic-route airliner of Russia and former Soviet states until the mid-2000s. It was exported to 17 non-Russian airlines and used as head-of-state transport by the air forces of several countries.

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The Shaanxi Y-8 or Yunshuji-8: aircraft is a medium size medium range transport aircraft produced by Shaanxi Aircraft Corporation in China, based on the Soviet Antonov An-12. It has become one of China's most popular military and civilian transport/cargo aircraft, with many variants produced and exported. Although the An-12 is no longer made in Ukraine, the Chinese Y-8 continues to be upgraded and produced.

The U.S. Department of Defense noted that J-15s will have below normal range and armament when operating from the carrier, due to limits imposed by the ski-jump takeoff system. A ski-jump is a curved ramp that allows aircraft to take off from a runway that is shorter than the aircraft's required takeoff roll. By launching the aircraft at a slight upward angle, the ski-jump gives the aircraft additional time to build up velocity and reach stable flight. Ski-jumps are commonly used to launch airplanes from aircraft carriers that lack aircraft catapults.
Russian Admiral Kuznetsov showing a prominent ski-jump ramp

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The lack of a carrier onboard delivery aircraft like the United States Navy (USN) Grumman C-2 Greyhound also limits logistics capabilities. Liaoning would need extensive land-based support to oppose a USN carrier strike group; however, it would be potent against the Vietnam People's Navy and the Philippine Navy. Deficiencies will likely be corrected with future aircraft carriers, which are expected to be larger with conventional takeoff decks and catapult launching for heavier fighters, plus fixed-wing radar and anti-submarine patrol aircraft.

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Grumman C-2A Greyhound carrier on-board delivery (COD) aircraft from fleet logistic support squadron VR-24 on 1 Jul 1988

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