CHINA-US: US AIRCRAFT CARRIER GROUP ENTERS SOUTH CHINA SEA ON APRIL 4

The U.S. 7th Fleet announced on April 6 that the Theodore Roosevelt Carrier Strike Group had entered the South China Sea on April 4, to conduct “routine operations.” This would be the second time this year that the strike group – consisting of flag ship carrier USS Theodore Roosevelt, Carrier Air Wing 11, the Ticonderoga-class guided-missile cruiser USS Bunker Hill, Destroyer Squadron 23, and the Arleigh Burke-class guided-missile destroyer USS Russell – has entered these waters as part of its tasking within the 7th Fleet’s area of operations. China's state-owned CCTV in its telecast on April 5 reported that "around midnight on April 3, the USS "Mustine" destroyer appeared in the waters near the mouth of the Yangtze River in the East China Sea and headed south. The ship set off from the Japanese port of Yokosuka on March 27 and headed straight for the East China Sea, which was clearly targeted." The spokesperson for China's PLA Eastern Theater Command Zhang Chunhui, protesting the passage of the US destroyer through the Taiwan Strait, said on April 7 that China had tracked and monitored the USS John S. McCain throughout its passage. He said the U.S. move sent the “wrong signal” to Taiwan’s government and “willfully disrupted the regional situation by endangering peace and stability across the Taiwan Strait”. China, he added, firmly opposed the move and Chinese forces will respond with “strict precautions and vigilance”.







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