The recent appearance of U.S. warships in the waters off China’s Yangtze River has caused a furor on the Chinese Internet, and the Chinese military is paying increased attention to the movements of U.S. forces in the first island chain. Chinese expert Hu Bo believes that the “suddenness” of U.S. troop movements in China’s peripheral waters has increased, and that the PLA should be prepared to face one to two U.S. aircraft carrier battle groups.
Hu Bo, director of the South China Sea Strategic Situational Awareness Program, an official Chinese think tank, said on April 6 that since 2020, U.S. aircraft carriers no longer operate in the South China Sea and the Western Pacific as they did earlier, or just cruise in a general sense, but routinely cruise in the waters around the Philippines.
Hu Bo said that the US aircraft carriers target the South China Sea, Taiwan Strait and other focal areas, and now “fast in and fast out”, and strengthen the joint exercises and training with other warships and warplanes.
He believes that the actions of U.S. aircraft carriers in the South China Sea and other waters around China have become “more abrupt and less regular,” and the implication of actual combat deployment has been significantly strengthened. If this line of thinking continues, the frequency of U.S. carriers entering and leaving the South China Sea and East China Sea will increase significantly. And the PLA needs to be prepared to face one to two U.S. carrier battle groups in the Western Pacific on a regular basis in the future.