US moves aircraft carriers to Taiwan Strait in South China Sea

by Karen Faulkner, Worthy News Correspondent

(Worthy News) – In a display of power, the US Navy now has three aircraft carriers to the Taiwan Strait in the South China Sea, Fox News reported Monday. This is the first three-carrier mission to take place in several years and it reportedly sends a message of deterrence to China.

The carriers involved are the USS Theodore Roosevelt, USS Nimitz, and USS Ronald Reagan. Naval commanders have said the move is to sustain “readiness” in a highly “pressurized region,” Yahoo News reported.

According to Fox News, the ships’ presence in the region is a development that “clearly seems to relate to recently increasing tensions between the U.S. and China regarding the coronavirus pandemic and Chinese maritime maneuvers regarding Taiwan and the South China Sea.”

Chinese officials have reportedly voiced strong opposition to the carriers’ movements, saying: “China could counter it by holding military drills and showing its ability and determination to safeguard its territorial integrity,” Fox News reported. The Chinese-backed Global Times has also referred to China’s “carrier killer” DF-21D and DF-26 anti-ship missiles. These weapons reportedly operate with a range of 900 miles, a distance that may force U.S. carriers to operate at much farther standoff ranges, Fox News said.

The US Navy has stated its carriers will operate “anywhere” they are needed in international waters.

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